Head Lines: December 2017

 

Dear York House Families,

First and foremost, I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the dedication and focus demonstrated by our faculty, staff, and administrative team during our last week before the holidays. It was heartwarming to witness our whole community supporting both our Yorkies and each other during this past week of transition. Despite challenging circumstances, our community rallied, keeping a focus on what is most important to all of us, our girls. As we head into the winter break, I wish to reassure the York House parent community as well as our alumnae that we are a strong, caring, and resilient community.

Throughout the week, I appreciated the numerous opportunities I had to connect with the community and listen to feedback provided by students, parents, faculty, and staff. It is clear that people care deeply about our school and I am committed to ensuring that we have a caring learning and workplace environment. It was a pleasure to have conversations with parents both before and after school as well as engaging in conversations during the Senior School parent-teacher conference. I was also able to drop into many classrooms and attend several events that solidified for me the commitment of our outstanding faculty to our students.

One event I had the privilege to attend, had me reflecting deeply on the power of collaboration. I had the pleasure to see our Grade 5s proudly present their culminating learning demonstrations on accessibility. This interdisciplinary inquiry project demonstrated how our dedicated teachers work collaboratively to create learning opportunities that are engaging and meaningful for our students. The girls came up with creative ideas on how to remove barriers, raise awareness, and change attitudes related to accessibility issues faced by people with disabilities.

The Grade 5 project on accessibility reminded me that we can all mobilize around an issue, engage in discussions, and together seek solutions to strengthen our York House School community. In the new year, I look forward to connecting with our parent community and alumnae and providing you with opportunities to get to know me better.

In the meantime, on behalf of all York House School faculty and staff, I wish to offer my warmest wishes of happiness this holiday season and throughout the coming year.

Mme Julie Rousseau
Acting Head of School