Blog Posts

In the pursuit of fostering a more equitable and inclusive society, schools play a pivotal role. We envision leading a school that values equity, diversity, and inclusion, emphasizing the importance of providing comprehensive student support. Drawing inspiration from "The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger" by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson (2011), we believe that creating an equitable educational environment contributes to a stronger and more cohesive society.  

There are no guarantees in life, but wherever you want to go or can imagine going, education is probably the best way there. How does a child in Kindergarten one day become an architect? How does a grade nine student become an arthroscopic surgeon or an agriculturist? How does one become an electrician or a chef? You guessed it - education. This is why I often describe education as the bridge to anywhere.

As we start each school day at McMillan Elementary, we seek connections with colleagues to chat about how we are feeling, the Netflix show we watched the night before, or how our kids' team performed at last night's game. We seek a morning connection to ground us for the emotional, social and mental demands of our day. Our students are no different. They, too, need this foundation to set them up for a successful day of learning.

Jayde and Skyla are twins in grade 5 who started school at McMillan in Kindergarten. The girls have a designation, due to cerebral palsy, and are confined to wheelchairs. They were nonverbal when they started school, and their learning and growth over the past six years has been remarkable to watch. Even more inspiring, though, has been watching them grow in their relationships with their peers.  I sat down with Jayde, Skyla and several of their friends to talk about their learning journeys as they get ready to move on to middle school.

As a school, Godson has collectively invested in embedding Indigenous culture throughout our programming. In addition, we are fortunate to have a cultural Indigenous Support Worker, Chandra Antone, who maintains her steadfast devotion to bettering the school culture and celebrating Indigenous ways of life, culture, and knowledge.

At Margaret Stenersen Elementary School, there is a big and beautiful tree that some people want to cut down. The tree is a cedar and I LOVE IT!!! It is peaceful and I do not want it cut down. There are lots of trees at our school but this is the biggest. You are going to break our school’s heart. So many students play there. It is an old-growth tree and it holds all the school’s secrets. - Arija J., Grade 4

At Kandal, we are committed to strengthening our family partnerships in our school community. It’s no secret the more parents are involved in their children’s lives, both at home and school, the more they will be in the ‘know’ about how best to support their children. To this end, our kindergarten and grade 1 teachers and our English Language Learners (ELL) teachers initiated the “Parents as Partners” program.

Keeping the district’s focus on equity in mind, the Dr. Thomas A. Swift Elementary school community has taken on a small project of our own. Together with a couple of other elementary schools, we are using picture books to dive into topics of diversity and equity.

In our school district's four-year strategic plan, we have targeted improved early learning as a means of impacting student success. At Mathxwí Elementary, all primary classrooms have committed their year to explore practical ways to improve early literacy learning.

Noticing a shift in literacy instruction across the district? Wonder what is going on in the classroom down the hall?