Estimadas familias de Escuela Eugene Coste,

As I look out my window to see the rain pouring, I am even more grateful for the clear skies that graced our year end fiesta last night. Please join me in thanking our EC School Council and Enrichment Society teams, as well as the small but mighty group of parent volunteers who hustled to make this event happen, once again. Our community is incredibly fortunate to have you! 

Please see below our final update for this year. I hope you enjoy the rainy weekend .. somehow. I will try to stay dry and be grateful for the moisture.

Saludos,
Sra. Andrea Riquelme, Principal

School Organization News: 2025-2026 School Year

After sharing our school organization with families last week, we have received some additional questions from some families wondering about teacher placement for their children. It has not been part of our practice to confirm with parents a specific teacher for their child. We have a growing population of over 380 students and we cannot reasonably respond to a high number of personalized requests. All teachers, along with school administration, spend many hours considering transition plans for our students based on the evidence of learning and relationships. We thank you for trusting in our process!

Here is what we know at this time for next year. Please note that some staffing still might change as opportunities for growth and development for our teachers continue.

• Kindergarten: Sra. Wolf, Sra. Knight
• Grade 1: Srta. Sofia, Sr. Traxel, Sra. Castro, Srta. Kelsie
• Grade 2: Sra. Salamanca, Sra. Perera, vacancy
• Grade 3: Sra. Rumel, Srta. Jeanne, Sr. Reyes
• Grades 4/5: Sra. Gray (LL), Sra. Tamara, Sr. Gossen, Srta. Micah, Sra. Craig (LL)
• Additional Programming:
• • Music Specialist/Learning Support Teacher - vacancy
  • EAs – Sra.Monica, Sra. Angie. Sra. Nguyen
  • Library Specialist- Sra. Alicia
  • Office: Sra. Toy, Sra. Jasper
• Assistant Principal: Srta. Yasmina Rivas
• Principal: to be determined

At the time of writing last week’s message, we did not yet have staffing updates to share. A few days ago, you received notification that I will be taking on a new leadership role as Principal at Rideau Park School.

I am pleased to share with you that we have hired Sra. Kelly Craig to our team as a new learning leader (LL) and member of the grade 4/5 teaching team. She is currently teaching in the science alternative program at Valley View School. She has prior experience working in Spanish-English bilingual schools in the Chicago area. I am excited for the skills that she will offer to Escuela Eugene Coste!

With trepidation, I am also sharing that our Music Specialist Jennifer Kelsey is excited to embark on a new opportunity to teach humanities in a middle school setting. This is a tough one for us as Srta. Jenn’s music specialization has been such a gift to our students and program. I cannot thank Jenn enough for her work in bringing Garth Prince to our students, her dedication to Que Pasa each year and her daily planning of quality music programming for all our students. Jenn will be joining the Rideau Park team in the fall. Please know that her opportunity to join Rideau Park occurred independent of my upcoming role. I am happy to see her grow in a different setting and feel fortunate that this coincidence means I have a familiar face at the new school.

Reminder: Campus Calgary/Open Minds 2025-2026 Placements for Eugene Coste!

We are thrilled that our entire grade 4/5 team has won placements at Campus Calgary/Open Minds for week-long place-based learning residencies at a variety of locations such as Jube School, Arts Commons and 2School (Education Centre). These are competitive applications, so this is quite an accomplishment! We have an additional placement awarded for a grade 1 class (Srta. Sofia), which is 6 placements in total!

My Child Takes the Bus

Please continue to remind your child of expected bus behaviour to support a safe ride home (stay in your assigned seat, stay seated at all times, appropriate volume of voice, be kind).

As we have done in previous years, if your child normally takes the bus home but you will be picking them up, please meet us at the bus zone so that we can check in with you to confirm attendance. If you are picking up early or if there is a regular pick-up schedule at the bus, please call our office before 2:30pm so that we can add that information to our bus lists and avoid after school confusion.

What if I still have questions?

We thank you for reviewing our information and know that questions may remain. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our team if you need support.

Sincerely, Sra. Andrea Riquelme, Principal
Escuela Eugene Coste
International Spanish Academy