Rock legend Alice Cooper was asked “What are the greatest three minutes in your life so far?” Cooper gave two answers and his second answer was “the last three minutes of the last day of school.” He compared that time period to a fuse slowly burning and said to himself, “If I can capture those three minutes in a song, it’s going to be big”. This was the inspiration for his first hit single, “School’s Out For Summer”. It is still listed as one of the most popular rock songs of all-time and (if you believe everything you read on the internet) still a popular song at graduation dances and proms!

As a student, I don’t remember every “last day of school” but I do know that I didn’t want every year to end as quickly as it did. I knew my family was moving to the big city of Windsor after my Grade 4 year, so that was the first year that I found to be bittersweet. Even though I was in a small, rural school for Grade 8, my classmates ended up being at three different high schools so that day (along with graduation night) was both exciting and sad. Grade 13 (yes, I am THAT old) was an even more interesting experience as every graduate acted like we couldn’t wait to get out of high school but we were secretly wishing they could be seniors forever.

Our own students will no doubt feel the same way on their last day of school. The Grade 4s at the Primary Campus (some of whom have only known one school building in their six-year academic career) will parade through the hallways to the applause of the rest of the student body, staff and parents. Our TEAM and Mentor Grade 8 graduates know that while most of them stay for high school, tomorrow’s graduation night will be the last time they will all be together (or as the song goes: “Out for summer, Out ’til fall”. Our Grade 12 students, most of whom have already accepted a spot in post-secondary education, are just like me back in 1985; they are saying to themselves that they are “so done with high school” but there is a wish that they could make it last a bit longer. Mr. Whyte and I were in the Main Campus parking lot yesterday one hour after the last examination thinking that a group of Grade 12s might need some “supervising” but in reality, they were just standing around soaking up the last day of their high school career and joking with their friends that they should stay one more year…

I know we will see many parents at the academic assemblies for our JK to Grade 7 students tomorrow and that we will see parents, siblings and extended families of our Grade 8 graduates tomorrow night but if we don’t get the opportunity, I would like to thank you on behalf of the staff, the principals, Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Philbrook for the privilege of working with your children this year. Whether 2014-2015 was your 1st year at the school, your 14th or somewhere in-between, we thank you for your trust and hope that we met your expectations…and then surpassed them.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Can you believe it has been 4 weeks since the end of March Break?

I am sure anyone who went somewhere warm during that time did not say to themselves “let’s come back for the Easter holiday”; no-one was predicting the weather we have experienced (endured?) since then. Just in the past week, I went from t-shirt and shorts on Sunday to “is today a snow day?”!

Enjoy the long weekend because things get VERY busy starting next week until the next long weekend. The Fashion Show is followed by the Festival of the Arts and it seems every JK to Grade 7 class is on a major field trip in May. Before you know it, we will be studying for a set of final examinations and saying good-bye at the last-day assemblies! Hopefully my winter gloves will be stored away by then…

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Usually we only see the benefits to being an independent school with no affiliations to a school board or organization but there is the occasional time when being an outsider does not pay.

Today, we are sending home a notice to each family with a change to next year’s (2015) March Break dates. The reason for the change is due to two factors; the Ministry of Education’s March Break is six days later and the Grade 10 literacy test (OSSLT) is scheduled one day earlier than usual. The literacy test is written simultaneously province-wide and for 2015, it falls during the second week of our usual March Break. We are obligated to be open that day since a successful result on the test is one of the requirements for a high school diploma in Ontario.

The notice you are receiving today (link) includes a more detailed explanation of the change and a copy of the new calendar. As usual, we will share one March Break week with the various Boards of Education (March 16 to 20, 2015) but our additional week will be the one BEFORE that (March 9 to 13, 2015) instead of the one after.

When we first learned of the conflict, we checked to ensure that this same issue would not surface in 2016 but alas, the 2016 date for the literacy test has not been chosen. There is speculation that the literacy test may return to an April date but a few years back, the contents of the test were leaked and the test had to be re-designed and re-printed for a month later so the Ministry prefers the date earlier in the year. This probably prompted the move to have the test in late March but then last year, the test was affected in some areas by a “snow day”. Pretty unbelievable, isn’t it? There were cold and snowy days AFTER March Break last year…

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Well I think it is official…everyone I know is sick of winter.

I think I may have been the last holdout. I was gazing appreciatively at the fluffy, fat flakes falling on Tuesday and thought “this is so nice”. The following day, when I was walking to the Primary Campus in the fresh carpet of white and realized that there was still about 10 centimetres of thick ice on the field that is going to take forever to melt though, I decided that enough is enough. I love snow and like the cold but I do not like slush.

If you are a skiier, I know there is no way the base is going anywhere in the next 2 weeks so I hope you get some great spring skiing done. If you are making like Anne Murray and Snowbirding somewhere, soak up the sun while you can; you are just going to get soaked when you get back…with wet snow and slush! And if you are going to be staycationing this March Break, I have a feeling that the maple trees are just itching to ooze out some sugary goodness for you so go find a sugar bush and enjoy! Grade 5 students especially should be excited about this; next month, you will go to the Outdoor Education Centre for the first time and you will learn how to tap that sap yourselves!

Have a great holiday and we will return to your inbox on March 27th!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Despite the fact that we still have a day of school left in 2013 and that the day is a very busy one (holiday assemblies, class lunches, report card handout, etc.), I would like to take the opportunity to say some “end-of-the-term” thank yous.

THANK YOU to the staff who provide all of the in-class and extra-curricular opportunities that you read about each week in this newsletter. You believe teaching is a calling and not just a job and it shows every single day.

THANK YOU to the parents who have entrusted us with the care and education of your children. We hope that you remain confident in our efforts and that you continue to recommend our school to your friends and relatives; I can tell you right now that 90% of the prospective families who will attend our first Open House on January 11th will be referrals from the parents of current students and this is proof that you are just as proud of the school as we are.

THANK YOU to the students who bring us joy, laughter and pride. You might provide us with some frustration now and then as well, but the adults in your life would like to thank you for keeping us young (while at the same time making us feel old!). We both appreciate and envy your enthusiasm for learning…and for life.

And finally, THANK YOU to you, the subscriber to this newsletter. We have present and past parents, relatives, students and teachers who get the update each week and we hope that you enjoy what you read and see. You will get another update in 2013 next week before we give editor Mr. Petrosian and his contributors a Winter Break of their own.

Enjoy the holidays and remind your kids about the three Rs…relax (give those brains a rest), reflect (take some time to think about what could improve next term) and recharge (come back ready to tackle the challenges of 2014).

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School