Dear Centennial High School Community,

I hope this finds you well as we approach significant uncertainty.  I recognize there are many questions related to pending ATA job action, and what that means for your children and their education.  What I can promise you is that once this situation is resolved and the teachers of Centennial return to work, we will do everything we can to support your kids.  We will do our best to lessen the impact of potential learning disruptions, and we will do our best to reduce student anxiety while attending to their mental health.

You should have received a separate Messenger from the Calgary Board of Education yesterday that included some information about what the pending job action.  Some of the key points from that communication, as well as some new information items, are as follows:

• All classes will be cancelled and all transportation will be cancelled (do not send your child to school during job action)
• Access to D2L will be turned off for staff, as well as for students and families by the Calgary Board of Education
• Teachers are not providing remote learning activities or sending home packages of work for students to work on/review during the job action
• • The provincial government has created a learning resources toolkit, as well as financial resources, for families to access
• The Calgary Senior High School Athletics Association (CSHSAA) has prohibited all practices, competitions and tournaments scheduled between October 6 and 31; these dates may be adjusted depending on the duration of the job action
• • The CSHSAA will work to salvage as much of each sport season as possible, respecting timelines and district requirements for a safe and feasible return to sport

All ATA staff members (teaching staff) will lose access to their CBE emails and other platforms such as Staff Insite, D2L and PowerSchool once job action commences.  As such, you will not hear from me directly via Messenger for the duration of any possible strike action or lockout.  I apologize in advance for this, as I know open communication is very important to our larger school community. 

The Calgary Board of Education will provide regular updates via School Messenger, so I encourage you to ensure you read those updates as they come out.  In the meantime, I hope a resolution is arrived at as soon as possible.

As mentioned above, I know that many of you have numerous questions, worries and concerns.  As both a teacher and as a dad, I have worries and concerns too.  I also have the utmost faith and confidence in the incredible people who dedicate their professional lives to teaching my child, and yours.

On behalf of all of us at Centennial High School, we wish you and yours the very best.  It is my hope that you will hear from me again sometime soon.

Sincerely,
Joe Sturgeon

Principal, Centennial High School