The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 THE NEW TANNER Ready for school year at Acton High While the new elevator at Acton High School will not be ready for the start of the school year on Tuesday, most of the construction work and other renovations to the school are complete, including a repaved parking lot, major painting throughout the school, a refinished gym floor and the first phases of a refurbishment of the cafeteria/auditorium. "The actual elevator, the mechanism that goes inside the tower, is apparently still under construction, but it will make the school totally accessible when it's installed," said Principal Darlene White on Monday as work crews and staff prepped for the new school term. With a student enrolment of 530 and staff approximately 45 teachers and staff, White said they are ready to tackle the new term at Acton High. "We're really trying, step by step over the years, to make things more attractive for the students ­ last year we put monitors in the Bear Pit (a student gathering spot) and we've painted the library and student success area," White said. Work to refurbish the cafeteria, which also serves as the school's auditorium, included painting, new tables, a new ceiling, new retractable wall and cleaning of all of the stage drapery. White said with capital renewal funding from the Board of Education, which understood the school's needs, they were able to tackle many of the renovations that were needed to make the school, opened in 1977, not just functional, but is also a place that is bright, clean and inviting for student learning," White said, adding it seems like it was Acton's turn this year for funding. "I'm very pleased with the number of projects and the fact they gave us funds because the school needed refreshing." While two veteran teachers and a long-time office staffer ­ with 90 years of service at Acton High between them ­ have retired, White said she's pleased with the new hires who bring with them "quite a lot of experience." Most of the teachers have been in to the school already, setting up classrooms and getting ready for the school year which begins on Tuesday with orientation for the new Grade nines. The Grade nines will come in early and work with the Link Crew ­ a support group of senior students who attended a retreat at Rocky Ridge Camp in Nassagaweya earlier in the week. All students are invited to a lunch time barbecue, and then students will go to shorted classes in the afternoon. There will also be a session for parents on Tuesday during the school day and a week later, there will be a Grade nine parent orientation session. White is buoyed by a great report following a District Review, an appraisal of various school operations by an independent group which gave Acton High top marks in last year's assessment. "We've been asked by the Board to share our District Review (results) and how we will use information gathered this year," White said, adding they were told they'd "nailed it," especially when it comes to the use of technology in the classroom. This fall, every computer in the school will be upgraded, and White said they would continue to ensure students not only use technology in the school, but also use student-based technology with smartphones, iPads, tablets and other devices used to share information. She joked the old signs THURSDAY,AUGUST 30, 2012 ELEVATOR ACCESSIBILITY: Although the new elevator at Acton High School will not be operation for the first day of school, the major construction ­ including the grey cement block housing will be complete ­ ultimately making the school fully accessible. ­ Frances Learment photo telling students to turn off their handheld devices are gone as students are encouraged to use them as learning tools. "It's not about memorizing by rote ­ it's about problem-solving and critical thinking and how people apply information to new situations. We're on the cutting edge in terms of what is going on in education. Staff, in addition to being really good at their pedagogy, they love kids and the relationships with them and our community," White said. Traffic and parking bylaw safety changes The near-misses and incidents of students being hit by cars near schools prompted Town Council to approve new traffic and on-street parking rules to improve student safety near schools, including McKenzie-Smith Bennett School where a student was struck by an illegally parked truck last school term. The 11 changes, some of them in Georgetown, were detailed in a report from Matt Roj, the Town's Traffic Co-ordinator, which Council endorsed on Monday. Several councillors were glad to see the report including Acton Councillor Mike O'Leary who explained that parking will be banned on the west side of Acton Boulevard and allowed on the east side to deal with parents who let their kids out of their car to stand in the on-coming traffic lane while the parents get backpacks and other kids from the car. "This should alleviate the problem," O'Leary said, praising Roj for his tenacity and hard work on the issue. Roj said the changes in school zones would be communicated to parents by the school, Halton police and the Town, and that after a two-week period for people to get used to the new rules, they would begin enforcement. The traffic and parking bylaw changes include: Acton Boulevard: · Extension of No Stopping zone for restricted times on the west side of Acton Boulevard from Mill Street East to a point 30-metres north of Norman Avenue · The No Stopping prohibition for restricted times is extended to eliminate children drop-off on the opposite side of the road from the MSB · Removal of No Parking zone on the east side from Mill Street East to a point located 143 metres northerly · Removal of the No Parking zone to allow on-street parking in front of MSB to encourage children drop-off on the boulevard Nine school-related changes to the Town's Uniform Traffic Control By-law No. 84-1, include: Third Line: · Installation of No Parking zone on the east side from a point 70 metres south of 32 Side Road to a point 194 metres south of 32 Side Road · No Parking prohibition was installed to reduce potential of rear-end collisions between vehicles travelling on Third Line in the northbound direction, approaching 32 Side Road and vehicles parked on the east side of Third Line. Speed: · On Queen Street (Highway 7), the speed limit drops to 50-km/h from 60 km/h between the east limit of Churchill Road to the east limit of Tanners Drive · Reduction of the speed limit to 60-km/h from 80km/h on Highway 7 on the east approach to the Acton urban area. LIVE AT THE ROXY THIS FRIDAY Acton's very own... CD Launch Party and Rock Show! Doors open at 7:00pm Admission: $2 Open to everyone. An all ages event.. DON'T MISS IT!!! Nicole, So proud of all your accomplishments to date!!! On to Georgian College for Opticianry. Love you and always proud of you, Mom and Sammie xoxox