2020/21 Welcome Back from our
ACES President, Alexia McKinnon
Hello Alpenglow families,
First and foremost I want to send out a very warm welcome to all our new and returning families. With the early closing of the doors at the school, it is so nice to be back in the school yard seeing both new and familiar faces. And what a wonderful way to transition into the new and unfamiliar school year with the stunning additions to our playground. A huge thank you to the members of the playground committee for all your hard work in getting the playground project to where it is today. It’s been lovely witnessing the children enjoying the new structures and I can’t wait to see them playing on all that new green grass and creative structures in our yard.
As we move into this year, you may have noticed a few changes to our welcome routine, festivals and community celebrations. Like many organizations, ACES has been challenged with rediscovering how we deliver our community celebrations to fit within the guidelines of CRPS and Alberta Health while ensuring the safety of all of our families. Unfortunately, this year, we are not planning any in person festivals and events. However, we are really excited to discover alternative ways to continue to build our beautiful community. We welcome any comments, suggestions, thoughts and ideas you may have on how we might grow our connections with one another during this time.
Also, you might have noticed a difference in your school fees this year. Attached to this email is a link to register your family in our online membership and payment system. If you have not done so already, please after reading this information, sign in and do this. ACES determined that we wanted to ensure every family was able to continue to send their child/ren to the school they have come to love and know and especially in light of the impacts of this pandemic on the local Bow Valley economy, we wanted to ensure none of our families had to make the difficult choice of not sending their child/ren to Alpenglow based on finances. As such, we leaned our operating budget based on the Alberta Health restrictions, namely support to festivals, events, gatherings and outdoor activities. We did our best to maintain all of our core support to the teachers, pedagogical training, EAs, natural classroom materials and supplies, outdoor classroom set up, and our operating costs for managing our society were the only costs our families were responsible for this year. Should a time come when we are able to offer outdoor activities again, we will invite families to pay on a per activity basis.
In the name of transparency and accountability, ACES is inviting you to a special meeting. In the spring ACES determined there were too many unknowns to set the 20/21 budget. We now feel comfortable with the knowns and would like to share this year’s budget with you. At this point, ACES is planning to run a deficit budget, covered by our healthy overall financial position, and our plan to apply for relief funding for revenue losses experienced through the life cycle of this pandemic. As such, we invite you to join us on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 from 7 - 8 pm via Zoom to share in this conversation. As this is a special meeting, per our bylaws we will be required to have 20% of our membership in attendance so that we can approve the budget and share a few society updates.
Additionally, we are still looking for a few more Members at Large to come and join the ACES team. We are especially interested in families with kids in the early grades. Many of our ACES team will be transitioning out of the school in the next few years and we would love to pass the torch of governance, financials and strategy to the next generation of families in a mindful, intentional and smooth succession plan. To that end, we are happy to announce Rob Kinderchuk has accepted the position of ACES Treasurer for a 2 year term. He joins Lindsey Williams, Jolene Gunn, Karen West, Chris Slater and myself as the ACES team this year. A huge thank you and deep appreciation of gratitude to all of these beautiful beings for sharing their enthusiasm, dedication and incredible ideas for the continual success of the school. And of course, to Maureen Stick, for being our fearless leader in keeping us all so organized and connected. We are forever grateful for her guidance and leadership.
Lastly, I want to thank all of our amazing teaching team for sharing their knowledge and wisdom. What a fantastic welcome and transition you have supported us all in. We know how dedicated you all are to our school and we are grateful to you for creating safe and happy spaces for our children. Combining the Alberta Curriculum, Waldorf Inspired pedagogy and Nature Immersion aspect to all things that they do is by no means an easy feat, yet you continue to do it, pushing the boundaries and edges of education, to be able to help us build, grow and sustain a school that connects our children with themselves, nature and community.
As always, we are focused on learning more about our community and about all of your strengths. We welcome the opportunity to get to know each of our families and to find out what you are passionate about and specifically your natural talents and gifts. This school is made up of the love of our community and the energy we put into it. ACES welcomes hearing from all of our members. We are here to support you and your families in having a great school year.
Many thanks,
Alexia McKinnon
ACES President
president@alpenglowschool.ca
First and foremost I want to send out a very warm welcome to all our new and returning families. With the early closing of the doors at the school, it is so nice to be back in the school yard seeing both new and familiar faces. And what a wonderful way to transition into the new and unfamiliar school year with the stunning additions to our playground. A huge thank you to the members of the playground committee for all your hard work in getting the playground project to where it is today. It’s been lovely witnessing the children enjoying the new structures and I can’t wait to see them playing on all that new green grass and creative structures in our yard.
As we move into this year, you may have noticed a few changes to our welcome routine, festivals and community celebrations. Like many organizations, ACES has been challenged with rediscovering how we deliver our community celebrations to fit within the guidelines of CRPS and Alberta Health while ensuring the safety of all of our families. Unfortunately, this year, we are not planning any in person festivals and events. However, we are really excited to discover alternative ways to continue to build our beautiful community. We welcome any comments, suggestions, thoughts and ideas you may have on how we might grow our connections with one another during this time.
Also, you might have noticed a difference in your school fees this year. Attached to this email is a link to register your family in our online membership and payment system. If you have not done so already, please after reading this information, sign in and do this. ACES determined that we wanted to ensure every family was able to continue to send their child/ren to the school they have come to love and know and especially in light of the impacts of this pandemic on the local Bow Valley economy, we wanted to ensure none of our families had to make the difficult choice of not sending their child/ren to Alpenglow based on finances. As such, we leaned our operating budget based on the Alberta Health restrictions, namely support to festivals, events, gatherings and outdoor activities. We did our best to maintain all of our core support to the teachers, pedagogical training, EAs, natural classroom materials and supplies, outdoor classroom set up, and our operating costs for managing our society were the only costs our families were responsible for this year. Should a time come when we are able to offer outdoor activities again, we will invite families to pay on a per activity basis.
In the name of transparency and accountability, ACES is inviting you to a special meeting. In the spring ACES determined there were too many unknowns to set the 20/21 budget. We now feel comfortable with the knowns and would like to share this year’s budget with you. At this point, ACES is planning to run a deficit budget, covered by our healthy overall financial position, and our plan to apply for relief funding for revenue losses experienced through the life cycle of this pandemic. As such, we invite you to join us on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 from 7 - 8 pm via Zoom to share in this conversation. As this is a special meeting, per our bylaws we will be required to have 20% of our membership in attendance so that we can approve the budget and share a few society updates.
Additionally, we are still looking for a few more Members at Large to come and join the ACES team. We are especially interested in families with kids in the early grades. Many of our ACES team will be transitioning out of the school in the next few years and we would love to pass the torch of governance, financials and strategy to the next generation of families in a mindful, intentional and smooth succession plan. To that end, we are happy to announce Rob Kinderchuk has accepted the position of ACES Treasurer for a 2 year term. He joins Lindsey Williams, Jolene Gunn, Karen West, Chris Slater and myself as the ACES team this year. A huge thank you and deep appreciation of gratitude to all of these beautiful beings for sharing their enthusiasm, dedication and incredible ideas for the continual success of the school. And of course, to Maureen Stick, for being our fearless leader in keeping us all so organized and connected. We are forever grateful for her guidance and leadership.
Lastly, I want to thank all of our amazing teaching team for sharing their knowledge and wisdom. What a fantastic welcome and transition you have supported us all in. We know how dedicated you all are to our school and we are grateful to you for creating safe and happy spaces for our children. Combining the Alberta Curriculum, Waldorf Inspired pedagogy and Nature Immersion aspect to all things that they do is by no means an easy feat, yet you continue to do it, pushing the boundaries and edges of education, to be able to help us build, grow and sustain a school that connects our children with themselves, nature and community.
As always, we are focused on learning more about our community and about all of your strengths. We welcome the opportunity to get to know each of our families and to find out what you are passionate about and specifically your natural talents and gifts. This school is made up of the love of our community and the energy we put into it. ACES welcomes hearing from all of our members. We are here to support you and your families in having a great school year.
Many thanks,
Alexia McKinnon
ACES President
president@alpenglowschool.ca
