Letter of Introduction

Dear Neighbours,

My name is Chad Holtum and I am the Head of Glenlyon Norfolk School (GNS). Our Middle and Senior school campus is located in Victoria on Bank Street, and our Junior School campus, which has recently undergone a major upgrade, is on Beach Drive. GNS has played an important part in educating children in this community for 107 years and we are proud to build upon this legacy now in a new direction.

I write today as your new neighbour on Newport Avenue. With the support of the District of Oak Bay, Mayor, and Council, and with the necessary approvals in place, our school is moving forward with an extraordinary opportunity to enrich our community and build upon our Family Boarding program. We have entered into a lease agreement with the new owners of the Oak Bay Guest House to accommodate a family-style, home-away-from-home for approximately 24 students between the ages of 13 to 18 who will attend our Senior School. Two staff house parents will reside full-time in the home with these youth and they will be responsible for their oversight and care. We are excited to embrace the heritage of this property and look forward to maintaining this facility in the highest standard. Live-in staff and school officials will have vehicles at the property but students will not, thereby minimizing the impact on parking.

As the development of citizenship is foundational to our school curriculum, we are very excited about this opportunity and look forward to playing a respectful and vibrant role in your neighbourhood in the years to come.

GNS is an independent not-for-profit school and one of only 5% of IB schools in Canada authorized to offer the full continuum of International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes that encourage both personal and academic achievement. While primarily a day school, we have a long history of welcoming students from around the globe to cultivate important opportunities for international understanding. We aim to provide our students with the ability to pursue their interests with confidence, to care for themselves, to care for others and to contribute in meaningful ways to their communities throughout their lives. I encourage you to learn about the many ways that our students are contributing locally and abroad on our website, and we look forward to exploring ways in which our students may be able to contribute meaningfully to our shared neighbourhood.

It is my sincere hope that this coming new year will see the demise of the COVID-19 health pandemic and the easing of restrictions that currently prevent us from meeting in person. When it is safe to do so, I will be inviting you to come and meet our school family and to tour our new student residence that we are calling Gryphon House. Our hope is that the necessary renovations will be complete by August in anticipation of welcoming students next September. We are incredibly thankful for the support of the current owner, Mr. Duncan Murphy, who has very willingly endorsed the use of this property and we wish to thank him for working with us on this exciting new venture. In the meantime, we will be updating our website to include information about Gryphon House. Should you have questions, or if you wish to receive future updates via email, please email neighbours@mygns.ca. We look forward to being part of your community and getting to know you as neighbours.

Sincerely,

Chad Holtum
Head of School