August, 2025
Welcome to General Vanier Public School!
I am honoured and privileged to have this opportunity to introduce myself and share my enthusiasm about being your school’s Principal for the 7th year. Before coming to General Vanier in September 2019, I was the Vice Principal and then Acting Principal at Blossom Park Public School. The first 12 years of my 31 year education career was in Toronto (Scarborough) before moving to beautiful Ottawa in 2005. I have taught in all three divisions (primary, junior and intermediate) as well as in Special Education (LST/LRT) and as an Instructional Coach for both school boards. Being a learner and supporting the learning of others is an ongoing passion!
We are a small but mighty school with Kindergarten to grade 3 classes. We are an English only site with a bilingual Kindergarten and a daily Core French program for our grade one, two and three learners. Many of our students and their families are multi-language users bringing a rich diversity of language and culture to our school. At General Vanier, our students are known as ‘Soldiers of Kindness’ as we all believe it is our responsibility to spread kindness and compassion so that every person in our school feels welcomed, valued and respected.
“Empathy and kindness need to be taught, practiced, modeled, and reinforced just like learning math and reading.” Lori L. Desautels, Ph. D.
Each new school year often brings with it new staff. This school year we welcome back our Early Childhood Educators, Mrs. Arielle Brigas and Ms. Christina Malloy who are returning from a maternity leave. Mrs. Jennifer Sinker joins our team this year as a Kindergarten coverage teacher as well as the primary Arts teacher for our primary classes. Madame Sara Meggitt joins Madame Andrea to complete our French Kindergarten team and Mrs. Ibtihaj Al-hakim and Mrs. Hiba Hammoud join our Educational Assistant Team.
Our building is maintained and cared for by our Chief Custodian, Mark Jefferies who has worked hard this summer getting our building ready for our students and staff! He is supported by our hardworking Night Custodian, Mrs. Noeme Nebrao.
Our School Council will be starting with a new executive this school year so please consider volunteering as a School Council Executive to support your child’s school.
When students feel safe, included and valued, learning can happen. This year, our staff will continue learning about and using the resource, The Third Path: A Relationship-Based Approach to Student Well-Being and Achievement by Dr. David Tranter. Social-Emotional Learning skills are essential for our young learners. Following the OCDSB’s Strategic Plan and ongoing work to build strong literacy and numeracy skills for our students, the GV team will continue to work hard to create a successful learning environment for all students.
I continue to be so grateful for your support and look forward to either welcoming back or meeting you and your children as we work together to foster the development of respectful, caring, responsible, anti-racist and self-directed learners.
Sincerely,
Christina Rathier
Principal