September 7th, 2015

Dear Tait Street School Community,

As your new Principal, I wanted to introduce myself and share how I hope to serve you and your children as we inspire our students to become tomorrow’s leaders.  First of all, I believe very strongly that by serving and supporting families, staff and students as part of a team we will inspire all our students to be all they can be.  I believe in a school culture where everyone has fun at school/work, feels safe to innovate and make mistakes when they try something new, respects themselves, others and our school and finally a culture of working hard.  I understand that Tait Street uses the Eight Keys of Excellence and I look forward to supporting these keys as well.

As a student, I grew up on both sides of Galt attending Chalmers Street and Stewart Avenue on the east side and then Southwood on the west side, so I feel like I am coming home.  My parents both grew up in Galt as well and I have many family members who attended Tait Street.

If you have any concerns with your child at school, please contact their teacher first to see if you can resolve it together.  If you feel you still need support with an issue, please do not hesitate to contact the school to speak with administration.  With regard to dealing with student behaviour, I have zero tolerance for bullying or harassment, as I was bullied when I was younger and know how it feels.  When dealing with poor behaviour choices, I will always try and use the least consequence necessary to stop a repeat occurrence, however, I track the behaviour and the discipline will progress rapidly if needed.  I do believe that teachers should be contacting the parents first unless the situation warrants a call first from administration.  That being said, I believe a team approach works best with almost all situations.

I look forward to joining the Tait Street school community and I am committed to serving your children, so they can be all they can be.

Please feel free to contact me any time if you have an idea or need support.

James Bond (007)

Principal