It is indeed an honour to be entrusted with the position of Headmaster of the Calgary French & International School. As some of you may know, I have had the opportunity to lead the advancement of French language programming in Alberta since the 1970s. During my career, I have had the privilege to teach in the French immersion programme at all grade levels from primary through graduate level courses at the university level. In addition to being a teacher, I also had the privilege of serving this programme in various administrative capacities ranging from Principal to Superintendent orchestrating such activities as implementing French immersion at a large urban high school, instituting French first language school governance in Alberta, and creating a nationally-distributed Handbook for French Immersion Administrators. Life-long learning is important to me. I have been fortunate enough to complete a variety of post-secondary pursuits culminating with my PhD in Educational Policy Studies.

This role as Headmaster at CFIS is the epitome of my professional and academic experiences here in Alberta, allowing me to lead a school whose values and importance of multi-language instruction and exposure to various cultures truly resonate with what I believe children today need to excel in our global community. I see this as a wonderful opportunity for me to take my passion for French immersion and other language education and make CFIS a success in its ability to grow and become a leader in Canada.

I have had the opportunity to witness some excellent practices at CFIS: we have outstanding music programmes as evidenced by our students’ performances in the many competitions they attend and also from their performance at our school’s concerts. We also have the best physical education programmes I have seen throughout my career. Our students are indeed privileged to have access to athletic facilities – gymnasia and equipment – that are among the best in this city. Our students are also very fortunate to experience a rich visual arts programme. The art work that is created in our two studios and displayed in our hallways is most inspiring. And, our students do achieve outstanding results on the Provincial Achievement Testing program. This, I believe, is the result of home and school (parents and staff) working together as partners to guide all students to reach their potential.

As your newly appointed leader, I want to reassure all stakeholders that I will work with partners to ensure that what is excellent remains excellent and that change, where warranted, will be used as a means to improve the organization.

Beginning with the 2009-10 school year, the following will be implemented:

• An effective and efficient administrative structure: The role of the administration is to lead and support all stakeholders in achieving the school’s vision and mission. The current administrative structure will be reviewed to ensure that current resources are deployed in the most effective and efficient way possible. We have a growing school population and are continuing to implement a full high school program and must support this growth.
• Full French immersion program: CFIS is known for its excellent French immersion programme. One of my professional goals as Headmaster is to ensure that all our graduates are fully fluent in Canada’s two official languages and further, that graduates have a functional literacy in Spanish such that they will have the language skills to pursue post-secondary studies in one, two or all three of these languages. As a school, we will ensure that students have the opportunity to use these three languages in meaningful ways both in classroom situations and outside the classroom. Specifically, we at CFIS will enrich our programme by initiating a student speaker series that will see professionals deliver their address in French, Spanish and/or English and further, we will encourage students to use French and Spanish outside the classroom.
• Staff: CFIS is an attractive place to work. In light of this, we will continue to recruit and retain the best staff possible. For the primary and elementary levels, this means ensuring that we continue to staff with caring pedagogues who understand child development and for the secondary levels, that we recruit and retain bilingual (French and English) teachers that are true experts in their respective disciplines.
• Communication: For the 2009-10 school year and beyond, we will implement a regular communication strategy. This will include a monthly publication that is sent out punctually on the 1st of every month. This publication (known today as The Communiqué) will be the official vehicle for communicating school news. In addition to this, teachers will begin the school year by communicating to parents the overall long range plan in place for their child. These long range plans will clearly lay out for the parents what (general and specific learning outcomes as specified by Alberta Education programs of study) will be taught when using what learning resources and also, how student achievement will be measured and communicated to parents and students.
• Marcel Tremblay Learning Resources Centre: A plan has been developed to enhance our libraries. Both the Elementary and the Junior-Senior High libraries will see their book and digital collections improved, new shelving installed that meets library codes, and will have enhanced access to technology for students and staff in the libraries proper. In addition to this, we are currently working with an architect to design the Junior-Senior High library so that it meets the needs of the learner in the 21st century. This facility will house space for distance learning, be the conduit for distributed learning resources, accommodate groups wanting to work together on research projects, be a place for students to do online work, and also be a place where students may go to read the Calgary Herald.
• Extracurricular Program: In addition to its student achievement, a school’s extracurricular program is perhaps the second most important discriminator in terms of defining a student’s overall school experience. As leader at the school, it is my intention to ensure that all students have access to and can benefit from an extracurricular programme that offers a breadth of social experiences for our students.
• 40th Anniversary Celebrations: In case you have not yet heard, CFIS will be celebrating 40 years of operations during the 2009-10 school year. As leader, I will ensure that the outcome of the celebrations that we undertake to host will be that we have a proud, cohesive family of current and former students, parents and staff.

In closing, I want to thank everyone thus far for your support and look forward to working with you to make CFIS the best teaching and learning institution in Canada! As your new headmaster, I am excited about the future at CFIS and look forward to working with all of our stakeholders – students, parents, staff, and our community partners – in realizing the potential for a school that can be a national leader in the delivery of French immersion education and in continuing to build our legacy on the foundation that has been laid by our predecessors over the past 40 years.