April 5, 2018
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Now that the grade 8 registration process has closed, we wanted to write to you to welcome you and your child to Thomas Haney Secondary School. We eagerly anticipate working with your family over the next five years to assist your child in reaching his/her goals as a member of the GRAD CLASS OF 2023! Thomas Haney is an exceptional school that affords our students unique opportunities which cannot be replicated in a traditional school.
We will host an Open House Welcome for our incoming grade 8 students/parents on Thursday, May 10th at 7:00 pm. We will have a presentation in our rotunda followed by an Open House highlighting our student work areas etc. We will also be available to answer questions. It is strongly recommended that all families attend this important evening as it is our first chance to meet as a group and start the transition process to high school.
We will then welcome our incoming grade 8 students on Wednesday, May 30th from 8:30 am – 2:20 pm. Students will be introduced to our unique model, have a chance to meet and interact with fellow members of the grad class of 2023, meet teachers and senior student mentors, and have fun! We will also provide a BBQ lunch. We have a cafeteria and a school store, so you may wish to send your child with a few dollars of spending money.
We are pleased to offer our incoming grade 8 students the opportunity to attend the BC Student Leadership Seminar in Surrey, BC on April 25th. This is one of Canada’s best student leadership events and it is an excellent opportunity for our new students to connect with like-minded peers as well as connecting with our leadership teacher, Mr. Carriss. We have a limited number of seats available for grade 7 students, so if your child is interested please fill in the field trip form attached below and return (with payment) to the THSS office, attention Mr. Frend. You may also email questions about this to Grant_Frend@sd42.ca
We are excited to offer our incoming grade 8 students the opportunity to audition for Impact Dance Academy. THSS Fine Arts staff work with Danielle Gardener (So You Think You Can Dance finalist/Team Canada choreographer) to offer our students a chance to incorporate high-level dance instruction into their high school experience. Students continue dancing with their home studio(s) while participating in our academy. Auditions are Thursday, April 19th at 8:45 am at THSS. Please confirm your child’s attendance by emailing Mrs. Evans at Shelley_Evans@sd42.ca
We are pleased to announce that our Peak Performance Pod will be continuing this September. The Peak Performance Pod is a class for grade 8 students who are heavily involved in athletics or performance arts and wanting to increase their health and conditioning. More information on the program can be found at: http://schools.sd42.ca/thss/peak-performance-program/. If you are interested in applying for this program please complete the application form (see attachment below) and return to Ms. Woloszczuk at Anne_Woloszczuk@sd42.ca. You may also reach out to Ms. Woloszczuk with any questions about this program.
Next, we kindly ask that if your child has been in French Immersion in grade 7, please email Ms. Woloszczuk. We will put all grade 7 immersion students into the same French block next year. As well, if your child is interested in our band program, please email Ms. Woloszczuk. We have an outstanding band program and would we would very much like to provide this opportunity to your child.
Much of our curriculum is available online for students to access 24/7, therefore it is our recommendation that students bring an inexpensive laptop to school with them. Generally, we don’t recommend tablets as there are sometimes compatibility issues that occur. We do have some laptops available for loan for students who don’t have their own device, but these are signed out on a block-by-block basis and not loaned overnight. Again, we strongly recommend that students bring a laptop from home. If your child will NOT be bringing a laptop to school next year, please email Ms. Woloszczuk so we can make a note.
We look forward to meeting your family on May 10th, and we are excited to welcome your child to Grade 7 Day on May 30th, 2018. Please feel free to contact me at (604) 463-2001 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Grant Frend
Principal