1. Students
a. All of our grade 3 and 4 students enjoyed a professional presentation of “The Nutcracker” ballet. Special thanks to Kathleen Holmes for her partnership in coordinating this special experience.
b. Winter Concerts celebrating the talents of our students and staff in all sorts of amazing ways. Parents and fellow students raved about the wonderful tradition of celebrating the season in so many ways.
c. SPARK! 10 continues this year with all grade 10’s learning about early childhood development.
2. Staff
a. January Non-Instructional Day: Most educators participated in school-based activities. Other options for teachers in the district include:
i. Elementary:
1. Uncovering the Core Competencies
2. Core Competencies Literacy and Self-Assessment
3. Teaching Personal Safety/Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention for Intermediate Students
4. Grade 4 – 7 teachers: Learning about, “Kids in the Know” sexual abuse prevention/personal safety program.
ii. Secondary:
1. Science World
2. ERAC (Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium)
3. Google Apps. and Read and Write.
b. Teachers will be provided with new laptops beginning in January. Their returned laptops will be refurbished and provided to schools for students’ use.
c. A delightful New Year’s video of our students sharing their thoughts about their education has been shared district-wide and is on our public Youtube channel
d. Student Support teachers are implementing a competency-based Individual Education Plan (IEP) template which should result in more specific supports for students as well as efficiency for teachers.
3. Community
a. The District Parent Advisory Council’s next meeting will be on January 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Elphinstone Secondary School.
b. DPAC is sponsoring a, “Parenting your Teen” program for parents at Elphinstone Secondary from January 30th to March 13th.