See our School Calendar for Dates & Events information.

Good morning AFS families,

Final Week

It’s our last week together for the 2025-2026 school year! It’s been one full of growth and change. All your support has been greatly appreciated. You came to join us for our welcome back event in September, volunteered for our fun lunches, participated in student learning conferences, celebrated our music assembly, watched your students challenge themselves on mission impossible, embodied kindness, made purchases from the Scholastic book fair, listened to your amazing storytellers, attended field trips, fed the staff (three times!), and trusted us with your children each and every day. Thank you for the trust you place in us, and your continued support of all we do, together, to make AFS a great place to be.

Thank you from Staff for our Potato Bar Luncheon

This past week you provided all staff with a decadent potato bar luncheon. Thank you to everyone who provided food, we were well fed on Thursday, and Friday! A special thank you to Courtney for her organizational skills and commitment to ensuring all staff were well nourished.

AFS Land Acknowledgement

This weekend was the summer solstice, Father’s Day, and National Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This year marks the fifth annual commitment to Truth and ReconciliAction. All students participated in creating buddy classroom Land Acknowledgements, which were shared at our gathering on Friday morning. Students listened for similarities across the four creations, and shared what they heard. We celebrated our connection, to the land and each other. We talked about our next steps, together, which include highlighting the similarities to create one AFS Land Acknowledgement that represents our whole school community. Current grade 6 students, as well as others, won’t be at AFS in the fall, however their contributions will continue to help shape our learning community, and be reflected in our commitment to moving forward in a good way. Everyone was invited to check in on our AFS website around this time next year, when we will be sharing our next creation, a video representation of our school’s Land Acknowledgement. Please ask your child to tell you about their process, their plate, and their understanding of the land.

Outside Activity Day

This week promises to create memories for all students. Wednesday morning teachers have prepared a variety of activities for all students to try. Students will be outside from 10:00 – 11:30 AM, followed by the second annual June holiday lunch, provided by our parent society. All students, and staff, will have the opportunity to eat pizza, picnic style, together with their classmates. You are invited to send a blanket with your child on Wednesday. Kindergarten parents, please do not pick up your children at 11:25 AM on Wednesday, please come at 12:20 PM to door 1, the same location as usual. We look forward to including our kindergarten students in our whole school event.

Thursday is our farewell assembly.

Families are invited to attend, the assembly begins at 9am. This year we are saying farewell to many students and staff. Of course our grade sixes are moving onto junior high. Some students are moving within Calgary, others within Canada, and some internationally, we wish everyone all the best in their future educational endeavours and hope students will return to visit when they are able.

Staff changes include:

Ms. Charley, Ms. Clark, Ms. Darcie, Ms. Hunter, Ms. Mendoza, Ms. Neufeld, Mr. Ramada, Mr. Sam, Mrs. Soroka, and Mrs. Warkentin. Some staff are taking leaves and have plans to return in September 2027 while some have taken positions at other schools within the CBE and other Calgary based school boards. Ms. Neufeld will return to retirement, we thank her again for spending January to June teaching all students music. All staff, and students, will be missed and remembered for their contributions to our AFS community.

We are still working on staffing some of our positions, including the CCT (classroom complexity team) EA positions. What we do know is that we are looking forward to welcoming Mrs. Paulette Gates (grades 5/6), Mrs. Jocelyn Paynter (music), and Ms. Rachelle Trisevic (kindergarten) to our teaching staff. All join us from other CBE schools, bringing a wealth of knowledge, excitement, and experiences to AFS. Please join me in welcoming all our new staff.

2026-2027 School Year Start-Up

All teachers are back in school on Wednesday August 26. Our first priority is to prepare a safe, caring, welcoming environment for all students. You can expect to hear from your child’s 26-27 homeroom teacher on Friday August 28 via school messenger (email).

We look forward to welcoming everyone back to AFS on Monday August 31, the doors will open at 8:38 AM, instruction will begin at 8:42 AM each and every day. Please have your child at school by 8:38 AM so they can be in their classroom and ready to learn at 8:42 AM.

School Council

Remember to mark your calendars for Thursday September 24, our first school council and parent society meetings of the school year. Christine and Natasha, our council chair and society president, have contributed countless hours to their roles this year, and we (staff, students, families) have all benefited from their dedication. It takes a village, and I am so thankful to be part of this supportive village. At the risk of forgetting someone who has contributed to council/society events (sorry!) thank you for: the school dance (Brittany), Purdy’s fundraiser (Lindsay), monthly notetaking (Ashley, Jenn), finances (Natasha, Nicole), community liaisons (Christine, Esther), fun lunches (Satoko, Martine, Scott, Natasha, Christine, ), coupon books (Christine), conference meals (Satoko, Christine, Natasha), grade 6 farewell (Amanda, Pam, Anastasia) and so much more. Thank you to whoever I haven’t recorded here, I will remember your impact, and always value the contributions our parent community. If you are able to support our council and society in the new year please reach out. Many hands make lighter work, and stronger community connections.  

Shout-Out to our Grandparent Readers

We cannot end the school year without a shout out to our grandparent readers. If you know one, please let them know what an important role they play in our school community. Students adore reading with the grandparents, they learn and grow in their socialization, literacy, and belonging skills which each visit. Thank you Charlene, Debbie, Dianne, Donna, Joan, Lee, Martine, Margot, and Sharon, your enthusiasm is contagious. See you again in the fall!

All the best to everyone for a safe and happy summer.

Have a great day.
Helen Sharpe
AFS Principal