September 2020 Hamber PAC Newsletter
Greetings Parents and Guardians.
Welcome to all current Hamber families and to our incoming grade 8 families along with other new parents and guardians joining our community! This is a unique start to the school year to say the least.
Recognising the pandemic has changed how school will look this year operationally, it is critical for the parent/guardian community - through the PAC - to continue to be engaged with the school administration, Vancouver School Board, Ministry of Education and other stakeholders. As we move forward with the VSB options for our kid(s)’ safe return to school, PAC will focus on gathering and providing feedback to the administration. This is an extension of the work that we have been doing since June, in response to the volume of questions around the health and safety of our children returning to school at that time. As members of the Hamber PAC executive team, we will continue to be a bridge for families to stay as current as possible in these fluid times and we thank you in advance for providing us constructive feedback on how to best facilitate this process.
Virtual AGM - Tues, September 15 at 7pm
Our first meeting this year will be the PAC AGM, to be held virtually on Tuesday September 15 at 7pm. At this AGM, the parent community will elect the PAC Executives for the upcoming year. I’m pleased to announce that with the exception of Michelle Robinson, whose son graduated from Hamber this past year, the current slate of Executives is ready to continue to volunteer their time. We want to thank Michelle for her tireless work as a PAC Executive all these years! Indeed, her guidance has been crucial to the foundation of our PAC operations.
As Vik Khanna is continuing with his role as a DPAC Executive, we will also be looking to fill the non-executive role of DPAC Representative. If you have an interest in this position and be involved with the PAC at the District level, please reach out to me with any questions. We want to thank Vik for all his work at the DPAC level and especially your focus on the District Long Range Facilities Plan and Seismic upgrade components.
Registration details for our virtual AGM (Agenda here)
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUoduGpqjwoHdCYz1Xe2oPnt36Dc07_31tk
Should you have questions about the agenda or you wish to add items for discussion, you must email those to us in advance to chair@hamberpac.ca so that we can try to adjust the agenda to accommodate the requested changes within the scheduled meeting time.
Hamber Seismic Project Update
There will also be information around our Seismic upgrade that is scheduled to start soon.
The virtual open house in mid-July was an opportunity for the wider community to review the development application and ask questions to the City directly.
You can see renderings and review the application information here: https://shapeyourcity.ca/5025-willow-st
Thank you
This school year will present all of us with new challenges and evolving routines. We appreciate the work of the Hamber administration, educators, support workers, maintenance, custodial, and administrative staff in preparing a safe learning environment for our children as laid out by the Ministry of education and the VSB. We appreciate the patience of the parents and guardians in the Hamber PAC community, as we all work together with the school to succeed in these unprecedented times.
We look forward to “meeting” you at this year’s AGM.
Peter Couch: Chair
Anne Yu Lee: Vice Chair
Leslie Louie: Secretary
Donna Chao: Treasurer
Link to our current PAC Bylaws: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51a77f4be4b07edcf51508f6/t/56ba8900e32140e862875e03/1455065344419/Hamber-PAC-Bylaws-20160203-signed.pdf
Our Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1305402419632328/members
Acknowledging that we live, work, and learn on the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish Coast Salish Peoples.