February Board Meeting Highlights

Media Release - February 11, 2015

Trustees met at Dryden High School on Tuesday, February 10, 2015, for regular board meeting.

The February “Students Come First” presentation titled ‘Sioux Mountain Junior FIRST Lego League – Learning Science and Technology through Building’ was received by Trustees.  Sioux Mountain Public School Principal Michael Boos and teacher Kristin Ward, along with four Sioux Mountain Lego League students, shared the work they have been doing with Trustees.  In total, 44 students at the school are participating in the Lego League and the program has been extremely successful with staff at the school noting a large increase in student engagement.  Trustees were very impressed with the presentation, with many stating that the engagement and excitement of the students was evident and that the learning the program was offering was extremely beneficial as students use a variety of important skills including critical thinking, problem solving and team work.

Scott Urquhart, Student Success Leader, presented the Student Success Lead Report.  The Student Success Strategy was first introduced in 2003 as a direct effort to modernize practices in intermediate and secondary schools to better meet the needs of students and improve graduation rates.  The work of the strategy is vast, including supporting students who are at risk, creating unique and meaningful pathways for students, improvement of instruction, building a culture of inclusiveness, and assisting students in transitions both from elementary to secondary, as well as into adult education programming for mature students. 

The work of the student success strategy aims to reach every student.  The Student Success Lead works with in school support teams in elementary schools and student success teams in secondary schools, as well as a dedicated student success teacher in each secondary school, to remove barriers for students while focusing on both their academic and social needs.  From credit recovery, access to night school, and high expectations of students, to specialized programing like the Meno Ya Win classroom in Sioux Lookout or the Four Directions program in Dryden, the student success initiative is supporting our students by providing a vision of a future where anything is possible for them, and leading them down an individual pathway to graduation.  For more information, or to view the entire report, please visit our website atwww.kpdsb.on.ca.

Sean Monteith, Director of Education, and Sheena Valley, Communications Officer, presented the 2014 Director’s Annual Report.  The report celebrates the accomplishments of our staff and students over the past year, and 2014 was a year of what we believe is unprecedented change for the KPDSB.  This year’s report is a combination of videos and written reports that can be viewed on our website by clicking here.  From the expansion of our Transitions North programs, to visits from high ranking Ministry of Education staff including The Honourable Liz Sandals, Minister of Education, to our new $30 million high school in Sioux Lookout, our staff and students have plenty to celebrate and look forward to in the coming years. 

Trustees approved the 2015-2016 school year calendar.  The calendar will now be sent to the Ministry of Education for final approval.  The 2015-2016 draft calendar was created by the School Year Calendar committee, comprised of representatives from school boards across the region, following consultations with staff, families and communities.

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