Beyond our Borders - Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board

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$I:\Directories\School\external directory oct 12.wpd - Kawartha Pine ...$

2011 Program Highlights Early Learning Program With two years of full-day kindergarten now in place, 888 children within 15 elementary schools are benefitting from the opportunities provided through the Early Learning program. In addition, many kindergarten children are participating in the extended day programs offered within several of our schools, provided by third-party not-for-profit licensed child care partners. Through collaboration and cooperation, Early Childhood Educators and teachers work together to deliver a seamless day of play-based learning. The following schools now have full-day kindergarten in place, with many offering extended day programs: – Apsley Central Public School, Apsley* – Brighton Public School, Brighton* – Central Public School, Bowmanville* – Charles Bowman Public School, Bowmanville* – Colborne Public School, Colborne* – Ganaraska Trail Public School, Port Hope* – Grant Sine Public School, Cobourg – Hastings Public School, Hastings – Havelock-Belmont Public School, Havelock – Keith Wightman Public School, Peterborough – Northumberland Hills Public School, Castleton – Orono Public School, Orono – Otonabee Valley Public School, Peterborough* – Prince of Wales Public School, Peterborough* – Roseneath Centennial Public School, Roseneath * These schools also have school-based extended day programs provided by third-party child care partners. As we continue to roll out the Early Learning program, annual surveys will aid us in determining the viability of providing extended day programs within our schools. Parents and Community: Our Best Partners In Kawartha Pine Ridge, we continue to focus on building positive relationships with our parents and community members. One of the ways we do this is through our annual Parent Conference. At our eleventh annual conference – Success at School and Home! – parents, community members, and staff came together in practical parenting and educationbased workshops. This year’s conference featured a keynote address by Alison Griffiths, author and television personality, who dispensed entertaining, practical advice on financial literacy for people of all ages. For the first time this year, we also held a series of regional parent workshops in April 2011. Sponsored by our Parent Involvement Committee, these parent information sessions were held in Clarington, Northumberland and Peterborough, focusing on some of the following areas of interest for students and parents: – Anxiety, Stress and Peer Pressure Among Students – Understanding the Ontario Curriculum and Provincial Testing – Post-secondary Path: Helping Your Child Chart a Course Pathway – Navigating the World of Special Education – Who Does What: Understanding KPR and Public Education. We are fortunate to have a thriving base of supportive parents who get involved in so many ways – from at-home support, to in-school volunteering, to school councils and regional school councils, to our central Parent Involvement Committee. We witness daily the positive effects of parental involvement. When parents are involved in education, students do better. In addition to regular, ongoing parental involvement activities, 30 of our schools have applied for and received Parents Reaching Out Grants to encourage increased levels of involvement in their school communities this year. The grants supported projects such as: Family Math Night at C.R. Gummow Public School, Learning Better with Healthy Eating at Spring Valley Public School and In Tune with Technology at Home and School at King George Public School. These activities are cooperative projects initiated by school councils and supported by school administration. Alternative Education We know that regular school programs do not always serve the needs of all our students. The Supervised Alternative Learning (SAL) program has been successful at supporting many of our most vulnerable students. This individualized alternative education program is designed to create success for disengaged students. Through the SAL program, individualized plans are crafted to meet the needs of the student and provide for either part- or full-day alternative placements for students, for the most part on a short-term basis to assist them with resolving issues which are barriers to their success in school. These plans are developed with input from the student, parents or guardians, school staff, community partners and a school board counsellor. A committee approves the SAL placement and defines the length of time for which SAL is approved. Last year the SAL program helped 114 students earn a total of 59 credits towards their diplomas.
Advancing Equity at KPR Kawartha Pine Ridge values the contribution of all members of its diverse community to the achievement of its mission and goals. Our continuous improvement requires the creation and maintenance of safe, fair, nurturing, positive and respectful working and learning environments. Over the course of the past year, we engaged in a widespread consultation process with both staff and community members, which led to the creation of our Multifaith Accommodation Guidelines. This is one of several opportunities that have helped to expand our community partnerships. We will be working together as a system to implement these guidelines in a manner that respects all employees. In addition to our standing committees and structures, we have been working collaboratively on many important initiatives to help spread awareness and support for equity and inclusion. Some of these efforts include the development of: – Accessibility Awareness Resource Package for Grades 7-10 – Hate Crimes and Human Rights Resource Package for Grade 10 Civics – Bias Staff Training Module available for all school board staff – School Equity Contact resources and support – Workplace Harassment training, and – Settlement Workers in Schools partnership with the New Canadian Centre to help newcomer students and their families. To monitor our progress in the area of fostering equity, diversity and inclusion, we are embarking on a partnership project to identify key performance indicators. To help embed the principles of equity and inclusion in all aspects of school board operations, we are in the midst of creating a three-year Equity Strategy that will be aligned with the Strategic Plan of the school board, our leadership training plans, and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities legislation. We are excited to work with our students, staff, parents and community partners in all of these areas to support organizational effectiveness and accountability, creativity and innovation. Aboriginal Education We believe it is essential that First Nation, Métis and Inuit students are engaged and feel welcome in school, and that they see themselves and their cultures reflected in the curriculum and the school community. As part of this commitment, we are implementing the Ontario Ministry of Education’s First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework. Its aim is to help all students in Ontario understand and appreciate contemporary and traditional First Nation, Métis, and Inuit traditions, cultures and perspectives. With the Ministry of Education’s support for the implementation of the policy framework, we provide a twoday learning session called Legacy of Respect, which started last year and will continue again in 2011-12. The participants in these sessions consist of the teacher-librarian and a classroom teacher from each of our elementary and secondary schools. In partnership with our First Nation communities, our teachers gain a greater awareness of how to help our students gain a better understanding and appreciation of contemporary and traditional First Nation, Métis, and Inuit traditions, cultures and perspectives. We continue to build the components of the policy framework within our Board improvement plan and school improvement plans, with the provincial vision guiding us as we develop curriculum and resources to support all schools in our system. Artists, musicians, treaty writers and local First Nation community members are critical education partners within KPR schools. We continue to enhance our Aboriginal Peoples website, and our Advisory Committee on Aboriginal Issues (ACAI) provides advice to ensure our resources, contacts and programs, such as the voluntary self-identification process, are supported, public and accessible. We are fortunate to have many students with First Nation, Métis or Inuit heritage in our schools. Moving forward, we hope to genuinely reflect the contemporary and traditional experiences of our Aboriginal students and community members in our classrooms. Our students’ accomplishments are many, varied and, indeed, world-class.
Page 1 and 2: Beyond our Borders Director’s Rep
Page 3: From the Director From the Chairper
Page 7 and 8: KPR Leaders on the National Stage O
Page 9 and 10: All Students are Special In our Boa
Page 11 and 12: Living, Learning and Leading in a C
Page 13 and 14: 100 Writing 100 Math 100 Special Ed
Page 15 and 16: Our Trustees and Senior Administrat

Beyond our Borders - Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board

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