Greetings to the Parents of Dalian Maple Leaf Foreign Nationals School!
My name is David Truss and I am the new Principal. We are at the end of the first week of school and I am looking forward to the year ahead of us. In my short time here so far, I must say that I am impressed with the great attitudes and eagerness of our students and staff. I can tell that a positive learning environment has been fostered here in the past and I plan to continue to develop this further, as we create a community of learners that includes students, teachers, parents and staff.
This week, students met in primary, intermediate and senior groups and spent time getting to know teachers and students that they will be working with. We also did a nine-station rotation where every student got to meet all of the teachers at the school. At each station, students were told about, or reminded of, many rules and expectations here at the school, including dress code, computer use policies, lunch procedures and being respectful to all of the adults and students in the building. On
Wednesday your child was introduced to their homeroom teacher and classroom expectations have already been established.
If you have not received an introductory letter from your child’s homeroom teacher yet, you can expect one at the beginning of next week. To assist your child in being successful, please send them to school with the necessary supplies and ensure that they are dressed appropriately for the day. Every student will have Physical
Education three days per week where they will need to wear their P.E. uniforms and proper running shoes. On the other two days they are expected to wear their formal uniforms, including their ties.
Every year brings new changes to a school and this year is no exception. We have some new staff and also many returning staff, though they too may find themselves in a new position this year. Here is our staff:
Jennifer Guss at Pre-school , Kimberly Therriault at Grades K/1, Shannon Watson at
1/2, Kristine Soo at 2/3, Jessica MacGillivray at 2/3, Marly Cramer at 4/5, Suzanne
Jansen at 4/5 Foundations, Karri Shea and Pam Yee at 5/6, Ann Kirkhope at 5/6
Foundations, Josh Underhay and Erin Chester at 7/8, Julia Wolfenden at 7/8
Foundations, Edgar Arca at 8, Erin Mclean at 8/9, and David Leppert at Grade 9.
This will be our second year with a Music and Band program and we will have Karri Shea as our Preschool to Grade 4 Music teacher and Josh Underhay as our
Grade 5 to 9 Band teacher. Pam Yee will provide ESL support and she will spend time in every one of our primary classes. Erin Chester will provide Library support in addition to her classroom duties. We are fortunate this year to have Mrs. Kahndi return to teach robotics to our Senior Grades, as well as ICT, (Information and
Communications Technology), to our Grades 4 to 6. We are also fortunate to have the addition of Jacqueline Morrow who will be helping us in our library and offering additional classroom support.

Another big change this year is how we report on our Foundations classes.
As you know, Foundations is an important part of what we do here at the school.
Foundations students are placed in an environment were their teachers assist them with grade specific content and instruction that has a focus on language acquisition and vocabulary, in order to prepare them to find future success in the regular
English program. This year, our Foundations classes will teach all of the subjects, and we have designed the timetable to allow students to transition to the regular program without disrupting their timetable and other classes. Foundations students will receive anecdotal report cards, (with no letter grades), up to Grade 6. Student who have fully transitioned into the regular program, but are still not completely at grade level in certain subjects, such as Social Studies or Science, will receive a C* or
C-* grade. All students in Grades 7 to 9 will get grades in all subjects, with
Foundations students also receiving C* or C-* grades. This change has come about due to parent requests for students not to have report cards with blanks in some subjects and grades in others, which can be difficult to explain when moving to another school in another country.
Continuing on with changes, we have a new kitchen in our school! It is likely that your child has already commented on the new menus in our cafeteria and the overwhelming response from returning students is that this change is a positive one.
We now have an in-house chef, Mr. Guo, and he and his staff have done a wonderful job setting up our new kitchen. Mr. Guo comes to us eager to create delicious meals and with a willingness to learn new dishes and provide excellent service. You are welcome to come and see me about suggestions for our cafeteria.
I’d also like to extend an invitation to you to come and see me about any other suggestions or concerns you may have regarding the school. I believe that we must value and foster relationships with parents. The power of having all significant adults working together to raise a child cannot be underestimated. Often expectations at school and at home differ significantly. Together, we can make sure that expectations for learning are consistent and therefore beneficial to our students, our children. As a parent myself, I understand the challenges of supporting my children’s education at home. Open lines of communication are essential and I hope that as you get to know me, and the other teachers, you will appreciate our interest and concern for what parents have to say.
As Principal of Dalian Maple Leaf Foreign Nationals School, I will endeavour to provide information and resources to support and assist parents. To start things off, here is a link to the British Columbia Ministry of Education website with downloadable Curriculum Packages for Grades Kindergarten to Grade 9. http://tr.im/CurriculumBC/ (Only K to 7 are currently available.)
Thank you fore being part of our school and our community!
___________________
David Truss

Principal
Dalian Maple Leaf Foreign Nationals School