GPPSD Board Highlights 04-04-2017

Grande Prairie Public School District

APRIL 4, 2017

BOARD HIGHLIGHTS Central Office, 10213-99 Street, Grande Prairie, AB, T8V 2H3

The Grande Prairie Public School District is a learning community in which every student succeeds GRANDE PRAIRIE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

Two areas dominated the meeting

Grande Prairie Composite High School

PRINCIPAL’S MEETING

PROJECT PLANNING

Board of Trustees Board Chair John Lehners

GRANDE PRAIRIE

Board Vice-Chair JoAnn Cazakoff Trustees Brenda Howard Karen Propokowich Paulette Kurylo

HIGH SCHOOL

Superintendent Alexander (Sandy) McDonald Associate Superintendent - Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Olson Assistant Superintendent - Curriculum Services Nick Radujko Assistant Superintendent - Student Services James Robinson

UPCOMING DISTRICT DATES

The Board engaged in discussions around the possible uses for the old Composite High School after the new high school has been completed.

They are excited at the potential for having someone from the community use some of the old space in some way. The Board intends to continue meeting with community partners to allow these discussions to flourish and provide something for the community.

Sandy McDonald, Superintendent, noted that discussions around two areas dominated this meeting. One was a discussion around assistive technology (technology that provides supports for students unable to complete work in traditional ways). The second area was around behaviour management and how we can work at building processes and structures that support our staff and students when addressing this area.

Leadership for tomorrow

GPPSD mission and guiding principles

NEW STANDARDS

BOARD POLICY 1

Regular Board Meeting Tuesday, April 25, 2017 06:00 p.m., Central Office

The Board reviewed Board Policy 1 once again to ensure that what is written in this policy document truly reflects the vision of the Board and how GPPSD addresses student learning. The Board is working at pulling out what they see as “key values” in addressing the guiding principles of the Board.

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The cohort of 20 continues and continues to set the standard for quality training. The new leadership standards were discussed via the provision of four case studies provided by principal groups. The areas of visionary leadership and instructional leadership were discussed by this group in order to prepare them to apply for leadership roles with the District in the future.

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GPPSD BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

GPPSD Kindergarten

REGISTRATION UPDATE Can't wait for Kindergarten Registration...

I know!

It is tomorrow morning

APRIL 4, 2017

20 applications from across the province

VICE-PRINCIPAL HIRING

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Superintendent McDonald provided an update on the current hiring process in which we received more than 20 applications from across the province from people wishing to take on a leadership role in GPPSD.

Northwestern Alberta spring break information

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

This year’s first day for Kindergarten registrations saw 30 more registrations than the first day last year. We are seeing strong numbers in schools and are pleased with the numbers.

Please note that as of Thursday, April 13, 2017 at 4:30 p.m. and until Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. all GPPSD: email addresses district websites district/school phones

Board Policy 16

will be unavailable due to system maintenance.

STUDENT FEES

Jeff Olson, Secretary-Treasurer brought an update on School Fees in Alberta schools for the 2017-2018 school year. This is based upon Bill 1 An Act to Reduce School Fees, which was tabled by the government earlier in March. It appears that the government will be expecting a great deal of detail connected to the reporting of this information.

Update Report

HUMAN RESOURCES

The Board reviewed the report which provided insights as to the structures used in the Human Resources department to ensure that we continue to be a leader in how we address Human Resource needs. Mr. McDonald made note of the Educational Assistants Conference which the department, along with, Chris Farquharson, Director of Student Services, plan for March of each year. This is an example of the supports provided for the employees of GPPSD.

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Superintendent McDonald was pleased to present information on the work the Community Foundation has done around the area of providing activities for students who otherwise would be unable to afford them. The Board was excited to note that about 46 of our students will be provided a weeklong activity during spring break. This is another example of how working together, as partners, provides a better community.

GPCSD & GPPSD partnership

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE

Mr. Olson reviewed the process utilized in the provision of a new bussing bid for the combined Grande Prairie Public School District and Grande Prairie Catholic School District bus needs. First Student was, once again, the successful bidder out of group of four companies who bid for the contract.

The contract comes with a set of Key Quality Indicators/Performance guarantees that must be met under this contract. Some interesting facts about the shared service was that we will share 32 busses on 33 routes in the city of Grande Prairie.

The Board was excited to hear that this combined service will result in a more effective system serving our schools as they know this will be good news for our students.

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