On Tuesday, March 12th 2019 we invited our school community to come to the school and celebrate the wonderful learning and educational growth of our students. Every student in the school was proud to display their very own framed "This is my Place" poster, which demonstrated their connection to our community: The positive energy in the school was immense. Whole families attended our Open House, including parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins and friends. Our Open House ran for 2 hours from 4:00 until 6:00pm and many familes spent the entire two hours walking around the school, visiting their child's classroom and interacting with other members of the community. It was a huge success.

Our staff have noticed a significant difference in the power and meaning of our second conferences since changing to the Open House format. Previously, our second conference of the school year had consisted of individual teachers hosting parents for student-led conferences at different times over a three day period. Our traditional Student Led Conferences have allways proved effective, but the Open House format has moved the energy level for second term conferences to a whole different level. The Open House format has brought neighbours and families together to connect and to mix and mingle. We believe this is important for our students, parents and staff. We want our school to be the hub of the community and for it to be a place everyone takes pride in being a part of. At the Open House, we noticed the typical length of time families spent at the school during second term conferences dramatically increased. Many families were at the school for the entire 2 hours of the Open House. The energy, pride and excitement of our Open House Conferences has provided us with clear evidence that it is a way for students, staff, parents and families to meet, build connections and make our school a hub to our entire neighbourhood.