Dear Centennial Families;

Here we are heading into the final stretch of the 2022-2023 school year and I cannot stress enough how proud I am of the perseverance and dedication I have witnessed on the part of students, staff, and our community! This school year has been filled with a tremendous level of energy and excitement. The engaging learning in classrooms along with the MANY extra-curricular activities staff have provided for our students has resulted in a tremendous year. Sports, intramurals, science fair, band, choir, board game club, ping pong club, multicultural club, dance club, writer’s club, drama club, eco club, math club, GSA, art drop in, D&D club, Teacher Challenges, chess club, pizza days, track and field, and so many more activities have brought a renewed sense of excitement to Centennial. It has undoubtedly helped improve everyone’s mental health.

As we are well aware, the pandemic has shone a light on some inequities across our school system that have given us an opportunity to look deeper into ways we can further improve the educational experience for all our students.

As we continue to work with our students during this final stretch of this school year, we are also preparing to welcome our new students to Centennial in September. Such exciting times!

We look forward to working in partnership with all our Centennial families to provide an amazing educational experience for all our students.

We wish you all well during the upcoming summer months!

My philosophies on education and teaching students include the following:

  1. Kids these days are amazing. Never in history has there been such a talented and global thinking wave of young people who are not only tech savvy, critical thinking problem-solvers, but are also immensely caring on a local and global scale and often take initiative to make our world a better place.
  2. There is no such thing as a bad kid. Kids these days will succeed when given the proper supports, praise, and encouragement to do so. It’s all about relationships! Of course kids will make mistakes from time to time (just as we did when we were kids), but I have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of kids during my career so far and not a single one of them was a bad kid.
  3. Do what you love and love what you do. This is ultimately what motivates me every day. I absolutely love my job! Every day I get to help students learn and watch them grow. I have so much fun doing this every single day. It doesn’t get much better than that.
  4. Take risks and try new things. We live in a time of rapid technological advancement. To keep pace, I encourage staff and students to try new ways of teaching and learning so that we are all staying innovative. We are teaching students skills to succeed in jobs that don’t even exist yet. Be innovative!
  5. It takes an entire village to raise a child. Being a kid these days can be very challenging. Working together in partnership with school, families, and community resources will give children the best possible outcome for success.

Ways to stay informed:

Check out School Day and our school website for regular updates about what is happening at school cnw.wrdsb.ca. You can also follow us on Twitter: @CNW_WRDSB and follow us on Instagram: cnw_wrdsb 

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s education by calling the school (519-885-5660).

Sincerely, 

Mr. Steve Sherlock

Principal, Centennial (Waterloo) Public School

#kidsthesedaysareamazing