News Stories

Dear Abbotsford School District families,

This past week has been a difficult time with the invasion of Ukraine. Children, youth and even adults may experience a range of emotions when they hear about or see images and videos from these deeply upsetting events. I wanted to reach out to share available supports, should you find them of use.

Today students and staff came to school showing support for kindness, inclusion and anit bullying.  We were all surprised and delighted to find kind messages to welcome us into our classes. Each students received a personalized kind message, and staff received a card, courtesy of our grade 5 leaders! Enjoy some photos of our day below.

The Abbotsford Board of Education is required to create a calendar that meets the legislated requirements of the School Act, and the Abbotsford Teachers’ Union (ATU) Collective Agreement. The Board of Education is currently seeking public and employee feedback on the proposed calendar for the 2022-2023 school year. The proposed option meets the prescribed minimum hours of instruction that a board must offer for the 2022-2023 school year.

Students at McMillan showed some school spirit on Thursday, Jan. 27 with their crazy hats! Enjoy some of the pictures, and thank you for your support. There were some very fun and creative hats at school that day!

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a challenge we must constantly navigate, however, this past week we were able to safely return to in-person instruction for over 19,000 students. As we look forward to the opportunities in the weeks and months ahead, I must again extend a sincere thanks to our staff for getting us through the first part of this school year. What we continue to accomplish in British Columbia, and particularly here in Abbotsford, is truly amazing.

At the end of last week, I shared information around the delayed return to school for students and the implementation of additional health and safety measures. Since that time, more information has become available, and I would like to share an update with you. 

Dear McMillan Families,

With the reopening of school to all students on January 10, there are a few things you should be aware of. This past week, teachers and the rest of our school staff were busy make adjustments to classrooms, and planning for some changes to our routines that will hopefully help keep us all healthy and in attendance.

When school starts on Mondays, these are the changes you or your child might notice:

-where possible, student seating will be arranged in a forward facing, spaced manner

Happy New Year McMillan Families,

I hope everyone had a restful break, and enjoyed some quality time with close friends and family.

As most of you already may know, school reopening has been postponed from Jan. 4 to Jan. 10 this year, in order to assess the impact of the omicron virus on our community, and make preparations that will help us slow down the spread of this virus within our school. Our goal is always to ensure that students and staff remain healthy, so that school can continue to operate as close to normal as possible.

I hope this letter finds you healthy, safe and in the company of loved ones. On Wednesday, Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside and Provincial Health Officer (PHO) Dr. Bonnie Henry held a joint news announcement regarding the delayed return to school for students for the remainder of the 2021/2022 school year. To allow schools to adapt to the impacts of the Omicron variant that is impacting our province, all K-12 students will return to school on Monday, January 10, 2022.

Today McMillan experienced a shelter in place protocol, due to a police incident that occured in the neighborhood. This can be a stressful for parents for sure, so there are a few things we want you to know about shelter in place  and why it happens.