Superintendent's Report on Student Achievement - click here to view full report
Registration Information for September 2012. Click here
Online Student Transfer Process
Feb 6, 9:00 am - Mar 2, 3:00 pm. Click here
FOUNDATION SKILLS ASSESSMENT
The Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) is an annual province-wide assessment of B.C. students' academic skills. It provides a snapshot of how well students are learning foundation skills in reading comprehension, writing and numeracy.
The main purpose of the assessment is to help the province, school districts, schools and school planning councils evaluate how well students are mastering basic skills and make plans to improve student achievement. FSA is designed and developed by B.C. educators.
The assessment is administered annually to Grades 4 and 7 students attending public and provincially funded independent schools.
The FSA will be administered in School District No. 57 between January 16 and March 7 of this year.
Click on the following links for more information:
FSA information for parents provided by the Ministry of Education
Letter to parents from the Superintendent of Schools
Ministry of Education "Student Learning Assessment Order"
Ministry of Education "School and Student Data Collection Order"
Prince George School District No. 57 would like to remind parents and the public of the Winter Weather Policy.
Student safety is the first priority of School District No. 57. Parents/Guardians are responsible for their children's safe travel to and from school. If, for any reason, a parent/guardian feels that a ch
ild cannot travel safely to school, then they should make other arrangements. Schools shall not be closed because of cold or inclement weather. On days when student attendance is reduced substantially because of cold or inclement weather condition or because travel is considered treacherous, regular scheduled instruction may be modified for those students who attend school. The decision to keep a student from home for the day because of winter weather conditions shall be made by the parent/guardian.
Click on the link to read the full policy 3541.35 - Winter Weather
Aboriginal Choice School and Harwin Elementary Hockey Program
Hockey is not only a tradition for many Canadians, it's practically a birthright. But for many, the rite of passage that sees kids lugging equipment bags bigger than they are during pre-dawn practices is out of reach.
"The majority of our kids have never had a chance to play organized sports," said Alison Thibodeau, community co-ordinator at the Aboriginal Choice School. "A lot of them haven't had the chance to learn to skate."
This week, that's all changed for a group of elementary school students with the introduction of the Goals and Dreams Hockey Academy. Read more . . . .
JANUARY EXAM WEEK 2012
As of the 2011/12 school year, optional provincial exams will no longer be offered. Approximately 16 optional exams had been offered in the past along with the five required provincial exams. The scheduling of 21 exams was complex, utilized significant classroom space and teacher time, and as a result the so called "exam week" where students were not required to attend regular classes came into practice. The "exam week" was not established for class or school exams.
Now that students are required to take 3 provincial exams in grade 10 (English, Math and Science) spread over two semesters, 1 provincial exam in grade 11 (Social Studies) and 1 provincial exam in grade 12 (English/Communications 12) the call on human resources to schedule and invigilate the provincial exams and the requirement for large portions of the school's classroom space, is no longer required.
Class or school based exams can be taken prior to the traditional exam week and may be eliminated as schools develop current or alternate assessment practices.
For the January 2012 "exam week" school schedules will have classes proceeding as usual up to and including Friday, January 20, 2012. January 23 and 24 are also instructional days. School-based exams may occur during the block in which the class is scheduled. For students who do not have a final assessment on these days, the blocks may be used as "I-Blocks" for students who are not meeting learning outcomes or a continuation of the instructional program. January 25 and 26 would also be used as "I-Days" for a student who is not meeting learning outcomes for the course. Provincial exams are also scheduled on these days.
Our school district had set aside 11 days (4 in January and 7 in June) for provincial exams. Other school districts in the province have also done the same. With the change in Ministry of Education direction regarding required provincial exams, these days can be lessened or eliminated and our students will benefit from additional days for learning!
SCHOOL DISTRICTS’ BARGAINING AGENT CONCLUDES FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT WITH SUPPORT STAFF UNIONS
We are pleased to advise that our bargaining agent, the BC Public School Employers’ Association, has reached an Agreement in Principle with representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
School districts officials and representatives of the support unions continue to negotiate local clauses which must be concluded on or before February 29, 2012.
In addition to the continuation of key policy discussions, the framework agreement also confirms the commitment that $7.5 million per year of the $165 million Class Organization Fund announced by the Minister of Education in October 2011 to deal with complex classroom issues will be focused on education assistants. Confirmation of this commitment recognizes the critical role education assistants and special education assistants perform in our district’s classrooms.
Both the union and BCPSEA representatives bargaining sessions were collaborative and focused on solutions to shared priorities. It is now the responsibility of the school district to conclude local bargaining with the support unions and look forward to engaging in similarly constructive discussions.
IBM PROJECT TURNS STUDENTS INTO SCIENTISTS
A IBM/First Nations Technology Council technology camp gave students in Grades 5-7 at the Aboriginal Choice school a taste of what it would be like to be a scientist. Click here to read more.
ADVANTAGE FOR STUDENTS
Kids of the 21st century are known for being technologically savvy, and adept with computer and social media skills. A new program in our school district plans to help kids use those skills to their full advantage.
View video at www.ckpg.com/news/16922-advantage-for-students-video.html
Superintendent's Blog: Engaging Learners
New blog post (2011.11.15) entitled: Learning Involvement
The blog link can be found on the left hand menu of the district website and on each school site.
Dear Parents and Students
Please find attached a letter to parents and students from Brian Pepper, Superintendent of Schools regarding "job action" and report card distribution.
Duchess Park Secondary School Wins Top Design-Build Honours for CDBI
Highglen Montessori Solar Panel Demonstration Project
A solar panel project will enable Highglen Montessori Elementary School to lower its electric bill and provide electricity for the grid during the summer months. The project is being used as a learning tool for students. The data will be collected and students will track power production and the reduction of greenhouse gas emmisions.
Funding for the project was spearheaded by David Leman who secured two grants: $20 000.00 from SolarBC and $4000.00 from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
Sixteen solar panels capture solar power and transfer it to an inverter. The inverter converts the solar power into useable electricity and feeds it back into the school or the grid. The panels produce enough electricity to run 140 laptops or 70 fluorescent light tubes.
Learning Team Grants
School District No. 57 continues to support school-based teacher learning through learning team grants. These grants serve two purposes. One purpose is to support teams of educators working together on inquiry-based collaborative learning tasks for implementation in team members' classes. The other is to provide a forum for learning leadership teams working on inter-school or district-level projects.
Learning teams enable teachers to keep up with the knowledge they need to do their jobs well. They also help teachers support each other as they continue to develop their practices as we move forward in education for the 21st Century.
This year, school applied for grants in the areas of curriculum and instruction, technology and Aboriginal education.
2011/12 Learning Team Grants
- Aboriginal Education