I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that next week it finally looks like we are going to see a daily temperature without a minus sign in front of it. 2015 was the coldest February on record and I don’t remember an entire year of indoor recesses in the past 25 years that could match the number this February.

The bad news is that the Weather Network has predicted that it will be mid-April before the thermometer gets us back closer to “average”. Their #1 meteorologist Chris Scott says that heavier-than-usual snowfall and the fact that over 80% of the Great Lakes are frozen mean that the spring melt will take longer and give us colder temperatures past our next long weekend (Easter).

There is a silver lining in this; our Grade 5 students will hopefully get a really long and bountiful sap season up at the Outdoor Education Centre as temperatures stay low in the evenings and creep up into the positives during the daytime! And just like our OEC teachers have reminded me to look positively at the weather we have been given, I know that many of you are using the next two weeks as a way of either embracing, ignoring or fleeing the cold. Some are heading south to thaw out their fingers and toes and our HS Take Action Group will no doubt get some warmer weather in India on their trip! Some are staying closer to home and taking in some of the local attractions and still others are embracing the weather and doing some outdoor activities that they have been putting off (because who wants to go skiing when the windchill is minus 30?!).

No matter where you end up, I hope that you are able to spend some family time and to ensure that your children recharge their batteries for the final term of academic and extra-curricular activity. After all, there are only 56 school days left once we come back from the Break!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School