Principal Update

February 4, 2024 

Winter Walk Day is happening on February 7. The goal of the event is to get more Albertans physically active outdoors during the winter. We encourage families to walk to school, work, or for recreation during the day. Open those doors, dress appropriately, and enjoy the winter weather! 

Calgary Opera Updates from Mrs. Grunsell – Grades 4 and 5 

Grade 4 and 5 classes at PHS are involved with the “Let’s Create an Opera” residency this year. This residency is completely funded by Calgary Opera and a very generous donation from the Calgary Foundation. In September and October, classes met with Emily Dallas, a librettist, who worked with the students to brainstorm ideas for the storyline that revolved around our inquiry work related to “impact”. She took the students’ ideas and transformed them into the libretto (words for the opera).  

In November and December, classes met with Veronica Tapia, a composer, who worked with the students to connect their musical ideas with the libretto. Vero has been working very hard to incorporate the students’ input and will soon be finished writing the score (the musical notation in printed form). We are about to move into the next phase of our project which will involve holding auditions for the main characters (which are mostly spoken) and the “operatic” roles (which involve more singing).  

Between February to April all of the grade 4 and 5 classes will be learning the chorus parts during their regular Music classes. (A chorus is a group of singers with more than one person singing each part, like a choir.) Classes will also be working with their homeroom teachers to create a vision for sets, costumes and props based on the scenes in which they are involved. In April, Javier Vilalta, a director with Calgary Opera, will be joining us to bring all the elements of the opera to life on stage.  

The week of May 13 will be very busy with technical and dress rehearsals early in the week and ending with two performances on Thursday, May 16. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 and EES will be invited to watch the performance in the afternoon. Families of students in grades 4 and 5 are invited to attend the evening performance from 6:00-7:00 pm. Please save the date as this will be an amazing performance which will showcase all of the students’ hard work. The staff from Calgary Opera will be in attendance as well as a professional accompanist and a professional sound and lighting technician. We will continue to provide updates as we get closer to the performance. 

We would like to extend a huge thank you to our sponsors for this amazing opportunity! 

Morning entry 

We are noticing that students are trying to enter the north and south doors past 8:10 in the morning.   Staff have a short time to move to their teaching spaces and are unable to stand by the doors past this time.  If the doors are locked, please move to the front doors to check in at the office.  

Sincerely,  

Allison and Shannon