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Principal's Message

Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year!

Well, as I sit down to write this it is another overcast rainy day at the end of a summer chock-full of such days. Ironically, that’s probably making it a bit easier to get back to work as we approach the beginning of another school year. I’ve written lots of “principal messages” over the years and typically I look back at what I’d written the previous year to see if there is anything that is still relevant, and of course, it is, invariably, all still relevant. What I noticed, however, was that there was one word that was missing from my previous missives and that word was “inspiration.”

Now, that may seem like a strange word to use as a preface to a document that provides you with most of the nuts and bolts of how things work at S. Bruce Smith, but, ultimately, I think it is the essence of what we are all doing here. All of this stuff is really just a framework to help every member of our school community engage in daily acts of creation. Does that seem like a big ask? Perhaps, but I’d like to break it down to two things that will make a difference for us all his year:

1. Connect- I’ve been in the education game for a lot of years - pretty much my entire life - and if there is a cheat code to this game it is found in the connections we make. It is a long-held maxim that at a time when everything from their shoe size to their brain chemistry is in a state of upheaval kids need to connect to a stable adult, but more than that they need a stable full of stable adults. My hope is that throughout this year every student in this building will establish meaningful connections not only with our staff, but with their peers. We know that everything of value will grow from the relationships we nourish.

2. Inspire - There is that word again. It’s a word that literally means “breathe life into” and I’m going to challenge us all - students, staff and families - to think about ways that we continually reimagine our shared SBS space. We need this school to be a space that continually inspires both big ideas and small acts of kindness.

It is going to be an exciting year with a number of exciting changes on the horizon. We are honoured to serve you and excited about the inspiration you will all bring to our hallowed halls.

Brent McKeown

Principal