Principal Blog

September 29, 2023

A special thanks to Mr. Christopher Yates who was a guest speaker at our assembly today for Orange Shirt Day.  The children have been learning about Truth and Reconciliation this week.  As part of our acknowledgment, we will be collecting stones to be painted orange.  Students will then write words or sayings on their rocks and we will have a special ceremony outside on our school grounds in recognition of the symbolism of these rocks and what they represent.

A big thank you to all families for your patience, support and understanding during our evacuation earlier this week.  This was an unexpected event, one which we hope does not repeat itself!  The students showed such resilience as we waiting at Mount Sentinel.  There are many take aways from this incident and we will work together as a district to ensure all protocols are clear and in place.  The digging started as a result of issues stemming from our septic system.  Unfortunately there was a breach in the gas line which then caused our evacuation.  Here’s what we now know:

• The Brent Kennedy Elementary School septic system is at the end of its service life and needs to be replaced.
• The septic system is original to when the school was built.
• On the same day the septic problem was identified, an engineering firm was hired to begin designing a new system and a contractor was arranged to install the system once the design is completed.
• There will be no impact on students, staff or student learning at BKES - Operations staff have a plan in place to pump the system as required outside of school hours.
• School facilities can operate as usual.
• We’ll provide another update as the project progresses.

Just a reminder to have your forms and fees sent into the office.  It is essential that we have up to date information, particularly contact information for parents/guardians/emergency contacts.  It is times such as the evacuation that we need to ensure we can connect with you.  If there has been any change to your personal information, please call the office and let us know.

We will be hosting our first book fair on October 17-19 in the library.  Students will be able to choose books with their class on the first day.  We will try to have the book fair open for limited time before and after school on those days.  More information to come as we get closer to that date.

The Brent Kennedy PAC has a new website!  You can find it at:

https://brentkennedypac.wixsite.com/my-site

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Kooznetsoff

Principal, Brent Kennedy Elementary