June 27th, 2018

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This year has been a dynamic year at ARK! So much has been accomplished in and out of the classrooms – Snowflake Bazaar, Community Breakfast, track and field meets, volunteer tea, trips to various venues, pizza days, authors’ visits, installation of an outdoor classroom, a new garden around our new flagpole, report cards and assemblies just to name a few. As the last term draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to thank some important groups in our school community.

First, we would like to thank ARK students. Thank you for patiently listening to your teachers again and again and always using your best manners at school. Thank you for living the Four Keys of Kaufman by being caring, responsible, respectful and honest. Thank you also for owning up to some inappropriate choices at times and apologizing as necessary. Thank you for caring for each other, trying your best in class and in your community. And finally, thank you for letting us share in your learning journey.

Secondly, we would like to thank our incredibly talented staff at ARK. They have a range of skills, interests and teaching styles, but they all have one thing in common – they all care about your child.  They work hard to continually adjust instruction so that all the kids can experience success. We salute their dedication and commitment to student success. Thank you ARK team!

Thirdly, we thank our wonderful parent community. We thank you for the respectful ways that you communicate with the school, and with each other. You are role models for our children. Thank you for your words of encouragement, and supporting us when we need to deliver a consequence. We thank you for generously supporting our fundraisers.

Thank you to the many parents and community members who came every week to help with our Nutrition for Learning program, our Strong Start program and to assist in the Library. Thank you also to those who volunteered their time in our classrooms and on field trips. Your dedication to the students of ARK, and your willingness to give of your time enhances our school environment and is greatly appreciated.

Our sincere thank you to the School Council led by Liz Nechacov (co-chair and secretary), Heather Cowan (co-chair), Su Parabkaran (co-chair) and Iskra Pardo Perez (treasurer) for your amazing work to engage the community this year. The Snowflake Bazaar, Community Family Breakfast and fundraising and implementation support for our greening work are deeply appreciated. ARK SAC “would like to thank staff, parents and students for their overwhelming support with our fundraisers this year.”

Last but not the least, we would like to thank our community partners who steadfastly continue to support our greening endeavours. Our heartfelt thanks to the Kitchener-Conestoga Rotary Club for their generous grant of $10, 000 that helped us to install an outdoor learning classroom. The project was supported by an $848 contribution by the School Advisory Council (SAC).  Mr. Richard Cantin of the Rotary club deserves special praise for his guidance and persistence in accessing the grant for us. In the same vein, a sincere thank you to Mrs. Karen Falkenstern for accessing $1000 greening grant from Union Gas for the implementation of a welcoming garden at the front of the school, again supported by our SAC.

As you all know, this is the time of the year for staff changes. We sincerely thank all of our staff for their dedication to student success at ARK and wish everyone the very best in all their future endeavours.

We would also like to wish our Grade 8 graduates all the best as they move on to secondary school. We will miss you! Have a safe and wonderful summer everyone! We look forward to seeing you back on September 4th, 2018.

Sincerely,

Mrs. P. Kaur, Principal                    Mrs. H.  Mannhardt, Vice-Principal

PS – Checkout more details in our school Final Newsletter June 2018!