News

As an educator in the public sector in the 1970s, Irene Woods often ran after-school tutorials for her students. She was constantly amazed at the progress students could make in this setting. From this observation came an idea: apply the tutorial model to the classroom.

Welcome to the Winter 2024 edition of the Kells Elementary Newsletter. As we navigate through the cooler months, our newsletter offers a warm glimpse into the vibrant life at Kells Elementary, showcasing the successes and exciting activities of our students and staff. This edition includes stories of academic achievements, cultural celebrations, and community involvement that highlight our commitment to fostering an enriching and inclusive environment. From triumphant academic competitions to festive music showcases, every story is a testament to the spirit and resilience of our Kells community. Join us as we explore these inspiring tales and share in the pride of our school’s accomplishments.

When it comes to e-learning, Kells has a distinct advantage. Our remote learning capabilities were ten years in the making, with staff trained on early versions of Google Classroom. Evolving along with the platform has been an ongoing priority, so our teachers and students were comfortable with e-learning technology long before coronavirus became 2020's word of the year. The move to distance learning has been seamless for our students. We’ve leveraged our existing online academic program, moving forward with a government-mandated curriculum, as planned.

While teaching Kells students from the curriculum hasn’t changed, our teaching staff also knows where to go to get the best online teaching resources. Today, we're happy to share some of them with you. We know not all students here in Canada and elsewhere have enjoyed the same smooth transition towards distance learning as Kells students, and, instead, have to rely on alternative sources. We hope this curated list of resources will help make the lives of parents and their children a little easier.

Kells updates are presented below in reverse chronological order and the blog post is updated as new letters are issued. Bookmark this page for easy reference.

May 15th, 2020 - Covid-19 Update

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I’m sure that by now you are all aware of Premier Legault’s announcement today to close elementary schools in Montreal until September in light of the Covid-19 situation. We will continue to provide our e-learning program until the last day of classes which will be Friday, June 12th. We will be holding Parent-Teacher Interviews on Zoom during the week of June 15th.

Thank you to all parents and guardians who filled out our E-learning survey. The survey results were very positive! Your feedback is extremely important as it provides us with suggestions and guidance to evolve and further improve the Kells online learning experience.

Given that the situation with the pandemic is changing every day and it remains unknown if social distancing will permit a physical gathering for a convocation event, we have made the difficult decision to proceed with an online convocation for our grade 6 students. We feel that it is extremely important that graduates of 2020 are recognized and honoured in their final year of elementary school. Our online convocation ceremony for our grade 6 graduates will be held on June 17th. More information to follow.

We have reserved Wednesday, May 20th for Personal Item Pick Up. Please follow this link to sign up for a pickup time: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E4EA9AC23AAF58-student

Your child’s belongings will be pre-packed by his/her teacher and waiting for you outside the main entrance. No one will be permitted to enter the building.

Please respect the designated times and social distancing measures when picking up the belongings in order to meet health and safety guidelines. We kindly ask you to limit the risk of transmission by only having one family member leave your car for the pickup wearing gloves and a mask.

We ask that at that time, you also return any items which belong to the school such as library books or classroom materials.

Once again, I thank you for your ongoing cooperation and for supporting the school as we navigate this time together. As always, please feel free to contact me at any time if I can be of help to answer your questions, concerns or simply to chat.

I wish you and your loved ones good health and safety.
Best regards,
Marla Perlman
Principal

April 2nd, 2020 - Covid-19 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

School at home is very different from school in our Kells building. Many of you are experiencing the stress of working, parenting and trying to co-teach at the same time. The speed with which we had to move to remote learning was unprecedented and staggering. We want you to know that we are fully cognisant of how this affects you and we are here to support you.