School District No.

59 (Peace River South)

Monthly Report for March 2014

Discipline Summary In this report, the discipline summary is for January and February. In January and February based on 3 615 FTEs in our schools, there were a total of 13 and 24 suspensions, respectively, for breaches of the School Act and/or the Code of Conduct within schools. The main areas for suspensions were: January: Fighting Controlled Substance Safety of Others Non Compliance Bullying

6 3 2 1 1

February: Fighting: Controlled Substance Safety of Others Non Compliance Instigating

6 7 3 6 2

In cases where a weapon or a controlled substance is involved, the RCMP is informed. The Board asked for comment about suspension trends over time. Informal observations indicate a decreased rate over the past six years, especially at the secondary schools. It is speculated that increased implementation of restorative practices and other alternatives to suspension as a disciplinary method may be the reason behind this. Over the past couple of years there has been a slight increase of suspensions in elementary grades The Board requested that a picture of suspension over time (5years) be prepared and brought to a future Board meeting. School Presentation The Board began the day with a presentation at Ecole Frank Ross. French Immersion teacher Sandra Heily presented a video on a project her grade 2-3 class had prepared on safety at school. In the video, the students demonstrated their use of skills around physical and emotional safety in the school. Their project focused on Habits of the Heart.

Grade 7 students from Thera DeGreefs class presented a project on global warming which incorporated 21st century skills. Their goal from the project is to fund raise to install solar panels on their school. They urged the school district to continue to use energy-wise practices. campuses. PRSTA Presentation Lorraine MacKay, President of the PRSTA presented a power point in regards to the government appeal on the recent court ruling related to class size and composition. Collaboration Steering Committee Presentation Director of Instruction, Keith Maurer and teacher, Karen Edwards reported on the work of their co-chaired Steering Committee to develop recommendations for the Board. Their recommendations included: Support for an avenue for schools to share their collaborative experiences Continued financial support to move forward with established collaborative processes in schools Support for schools to empower teacher leaders

Enhancement Program Presentations Teacher Paula Weninger spoke about her first year in the newly created Numeracy Support position. After engaging Board members in an activity to demonstrate foundational numeracy understandings, she talked about the importance of establishing strong numeracy concepts prior to embarking on mathematical operations and problem solving. She then went on to describe the work she has been doing over the course of the year in 81 District classrooms to model for and coach teachers as they work at implementing and developing practice supportive of this thinking. Teachers Donna Chmelyk and Jackie Klein took turns describing the work they have been doing in nearly every District school to assist teachers in implementing Inquiry- or ProjectBased Learning methods. In addition to working in classrooms with teachers they have done several parent and teacher group workshops. Feedback to date indicates a positive impact on teacher and students enthusiasm for their work. Teacher Susan Lovell spoke about her first year in the newly created Later to Literacy position. She has provided enhanced reading support to struggling readers in the majority of Dawson Creek and area schools at the grade 2/3 level. In addition to students receiving the additional support, classroom teachers have the opportunity to observe effective teaching strategies to use with vulnerable learners. Data to this point shows that all students receiving the support have improved their reading by two to four levels. Tis initiative was developed as part of the Primary Literacy Project with the stated goal of 90% of students reading at grade level by the beginning of their grade 4 year. Approval of 2014-15 School Calendar Two proposed school calendars were put into circulation for staff and public consideration and feedback. A total of thirty-three responses were forwarded to District Administration. Thirteen of these were from individual parents or parent groups and the other 20 were from individual staff or staff groups. Thirty respondents stated a preference for the option of a two-week spring break and this calendar was approved for the 2014-15 school year.

The Board requested that when calendars are circulated for input in the future, they be accompanied by a written statement about the historical reasons for adopting the 2-week spring break. School Happenings Olympic event hosted by Tate Creek for Rolla, Devereaux and Parkland DCSS partnership with School District facilities department to engage three students in transition to work initiative Four evening parent/student meetings hosted at DCSS for program information and course selection; attendance of approximately 800 in total Little Prairie Elementary nominated for Heroes Live Here civic award in Chetwynd TRSS secured a spot in the provincial basketball tournament Informational meeting for parents re planned implementation of Inquiry- Project-Based Learning at CSS; approximately 50 families in attendance Local area companies donated $5000 toward Parkland field trip Tech Corp collaboration with TRSS to run in-school workshops on working in the mining industry

Field Trips: The Board approved the DCSS (Central Campus) field trip to Quebec for French Immersion students Secretary Treasurer Report Gerry Slykhuis outlined his budget recommendations for next year. The Board approved recommendations as presented At this point in the 2013-14 school year, both school and overall District budgets are in good shape. Policy The Board adopted policy 3190, Violence in the Workplace and Policy and Regulation 4545, Anaphylaxis. Personnel and Restructuring Brittany Faulkner has been appointed to the newly created position of Human Resources Officer. This position will replace the Information Systems Manager position. Important Upcoming District Dates:

Date: March 17-23 April 11-12 April 16 April 18 April 21 April 22

Event: Spring Break SD #59 Beautiful Work Exhibition at the Kiwanis Trade Fair Regular Meeting of the Board of Education Good Friday Schools closed Easter Monday Schools closed Non-Instructional Day Schools not in session