Superintendent's Report - October 2020

** Additional updates related to COVID-19 can be found on our district website.

Update on Enrollment – as of October 15th:

Brick and Mortar Schools – 5660
Projections from Spring – 6000
Students “in transition” – deadline today – majority returned
Homeschooling/Private/moved away – approximately 140

Approximate in-person attendance levels: 94.3%

Key Learning Center (Distributed Learning)

400 FTE Elementary (approximately 180 local & 220 from out-of-district
90 Secondary (not all full-time) – this is still developing and is a mix of local and out-of-district students
Teaching and clerical staff have been added and they are now processing the applications that were on the waiting list. Local families are guaranteed a spot if they have registered.

Configuration Changes

Due to the shifting population, two teachers have been reassigned to the Key Learning Center – one from Robert Ogilvie and one from Upper Pine. Both schools still have space for any returning students. As planned, we now have more physical space in our east-side schools with the opening of Anne Roberts Young Elementary School.
NPSS completed its re-cohorting at the halfway point of Quarter 1 on October 9th. In Term 2 of Quarter 1, there are now 18 morning classes (non-cohorted period) that have every student coming every day and 13 that are Day 1/Day 2. Therefore face-to-face teacher-student time is significantly higher than the 75% we were originally hoping for.

Financial Implications

Most students/families have stayed local (Key Learning Center), which has helped mitigate the Brick & Mortar decline. Additional provincial and federal funds are significantly assisting in costs related to health and safety, additional staff to cover leaves, technology, etc.

Framework for Enhancing Student Learning (FESL)

Intellectual Development

District Reading Assessments

These continue until the end of the month and we will have an achievement update for the November Board Meeting

Individual Education Plans

IEP meetings are taking place around the district. Schools and families work on goal-setting for students with diverse challenges.

Class Review Process

These collaborative school-based team meetings are taking place across the district. The objective is to assess the strengths and needs of each classroom/group of students. This helps establish an overall school picture and facilitates the equitable allocation of resources.

CLASS-REVIEW-CONVERSATION-template-2 PDF

Numeracy

The Mathletics license is now accessible to all schools in our district and teachers continue to receive professional development and training on the most effective use of this tool. Below is a screenshot from this application.

Human & Social Development

School Connectedness at Margaret Ma Murray Community School

“We did a school-wide turkey contest. This challenge was sent home as a family project to encourage connectedness between school and home. We have displayed all of the disguised turkeys on our bulletin board and are going to be picking winners today. Everyone who entered will receive a little mini-cupcake. School-wide 180/338 turkeys were turned in. Students really enjoyed creating at home and used ADST to help design these treasures.” – Principal, Kathy Scheck

MONTHLY PARENTING SEMINARS – offered by School District No. 60 staff:

Career & Skill Development

Makers Making Change

We are very excited to announce that Shell Canada has donated $10,000 to the Makers Making Change initiative that is being led at North Peace Secondary School.

North Peace Secondary School will be piloting the very first Makers Making Change class in British Columbia in Quarter 3. NPSS will also be holding several build events throughout the year, similar to the one that was held at Duncan Cran Elementary last year.

Attached is some information on our partnership with Makers Making Change, Neil Squire Society and we are very thankful for the support Shell Canada has provided to help make this possible.

School District No. 60 has made a strong commitment to the Applied Design Skills and Technology curriculum and it is wonderful to see the students in School District No. 60 using what they have learned to make a difference in our community.

Makers Making Change Pamphlet-1

Makers Making Change Newsletter_Fort-St-John-1

Operations / HR

Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others

Workshop for any interested staff is on Friday, October 23rd, 2020.

Caring-For-Yourself-While-Caring-For-Others-Poster_Oct-23-2020

CHARLIE LAKE ELEMENTARY – Nothing like a rousing game of dodgeball with staff. Fantastic way to end the week … well done LAKERS!

Preventing Harassment / Bullying in the Workplace

In continuing to promote awareness and to go along with the October Safety Talk on Bullying / Harassment, every school received laminated posters on ‘Preventing Harassment / Bullying in the Workplace’ last week.

Preventing-Harrasment-Poster-2

Change in Secretary-Treasurer’s Office

We would like to thank Brenda Hooker for her service over the last five years. We wish her all the best in her role as Secretary-Treasurer in Comox Valley School District beginning in November.