Austin O'Brien High School

I graduated from AOB in 2003. I have very fond memories of my time there. The absolutely incredible Mrs. Hyde was the most remarkable English teacher I ever had. She recognized within me a talent for writing, and nurtured it so. I continued to build upon the rock-solid foundation she lay, and the genuine love with which she taught, which enabled me to become a prolific writer during my post-secondary education. Thank you Mrs. Hyde for everything! There are many other teachers who I can give accolades to, so I will extend a warm thank you to Mr. Grewich, Mr. MacDonald, and the the two gym teachers who always referred to all of us as "Spanky". I had a great time at AOB and I remember those years with great fondness.

Graduated in 1996 just wanted to let the art teacher know that I never actually drew any of that art work I had Pete draw it for me thanks for the 80% on my report card tho basically those credits were the only reason I got a diploma. As it turned out I still have yet to encounter an instance where I needed to know how many sides a rhombus has.

Learn baby learn your lesson!

Yesterday was my daughter's grade 12 graduation. It was suppose to be my grandson, grade 12 grad as well - same school, Austin O'brien. The day before graduation when he went to pick up his gown he was informed that because he missed two diploma exams in January he couldn't attend the ceremony. He could attend the banquet which his mom had already bought 4 tickets (at $90 a piece) but not the ceremony. He had good grades in his subjects and was scheduled to take the 2 exams he missed plus 2 others from his current semester courses in June, along with all the students who still have exams to take. It just didn't seem right that he wasn't allowed to take part in celebrating the completion of 12 years - actually 13 with kindergarten - of school with his peers when in fact I know he worked hard in his studies even in spite of his father passing away a year ago. I often saw him working on his homework including during family winter vacations. In fact I really feel he worked much harder on his studies than my daughter who was taking much easier courses and spent as little time as possible on homework. My grandson even had a weekly tutor in grade 10, provided by his great grandmother, to help him with physics. It was a challenge for our family to appreciate the ceremony to the full extent last night without him there. Seeing all the students in their gowns and walking outside to take part in the ritual of tossing their hats will not be part of his school memories. As the valedictorian said in her speech...it starts with "that first single step". For my grandson that was 13 years ago in kindergarten. I thought of all the steps I took over the years only to have this one last step taken away from him. It's obviously too late for this letter to make a difference for our family but hopefully another family might not experience this big disappointment in the future. This is completely ridicules and sad to Not see kids that have worked so hard not receive recognition . As for a catholic school it saddens me to see such harshness instead of the love of God. As Jesus says every young child un to me . What happened ??? . My hope for the future for this school and other students is that they allow every child to attend . Sure cast them out of a ceremony that they have been waiting for their whole life's but let them attend the banquet which is 90$ a person ?? Seems to me its all about the money instead of incouraging students to succeed and feel good about their accomplishments . Maybe have your gaduation celebrations the end of June so all students may attend . Or change your minds and hearts in the right direction for future students. Very disappointed in this school .

I had fun at aob sent 1985-1988