Grande Prairie Public School District
MAY 23, 2017
BOARD HIGHLIGHTS Central Office, 10127 120 Avenue, Grande Prairie, AB, T8V 8H8
The Grande Prairie Public School District is a learning community in which every student succeeds BOARD OF TRUSTEES BOARD CHAIR John Lehners BOARD VICE-CHAIR JoAnn Cazakoff TRUSTEES Brenda Howard Karen Propokowich Paulette Kurylo SUPERINTENDENT Alexander McDonald ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT, SECRETARY-TREASURER Jeff Olson ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Nick Radujko ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OFPROGRAMS AND PLANNING James Robinson ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, STUDENT SERVICES Christina Farquharson
UPCOMING DISTRICT DATES REGULAR BOARD MEETING Tuesday, June 13, 2017 06:00 p.m., Central Office
2017-2018 Budget considerations
Budget development process
Allards will be recognized at an ASBA Zone 1 meeting in September.
Recognition of student achievements
Board Chair report
Sandy McDonald, Superintendent of Schools, and Jeff Olson, Secretary-Treasurer, presented to the Board an update on the process being used to develop the School District budget for the 2017-2018 school year. Trustees were presented a review of some of the key factors that affect the District budget, and reviewed a draft budget developed through meetings with school principals and the Directors of the non-instructional departments within the District. Additional information was requested from administration regarding some features of the budget, and a final budget is expected to be passed by the Board at the June 13th Board meeting.
Board Chair, John Lehners, reported on the Grande Prairie Composite High School commencement ceremony that he, other Trustees and administration, attended on May 19th. Mr. Lehners noted the student accomplishments and performances that were featured during the ceremony. He also highlighted this year’s valedictorian, Heide Adham, who was recognized as the recipient of the Schulich Leader Scholarship from the University of Calgary.
Nutrition pilot meeting
K-6 nutrition pilot planning
Alberta School Board’s Association
Friends of education
Superintendent McDonald reported on the Alberta Education Nutrition Pilot Project meeting he attended in Edmonton on May 12th. District staff are working on a plan that proposes to provide a free, healthy lunch to all students in one District school next year, as per the terms of the pilot project funding. More information will be shared soon.
Alberta research network project
Quality leadership standards Trustees discussed three potential candidates for the District’s Friends of Education nomination. The Friends of Education award, sponsored by the Alberta School Boards’ Association (ASBA), recognizes those individuals and organizations within our local community that make a particular difference to education. This year the Board decided upon the Tracy and Serge Allard, owners of the local Tim Horton’s, who have sponsored for several years the grade 5 classes from Swanavon, Hillside, and Avondale schools to attend the Tim Horton’s camp held each spring in Kananaskis, AB. The
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Mr. McDonald reported on the project kick off for the Alberta Research Network Grant the District has received to support District Administrators to prepare for implementation of the new school and district leadership standards being developed by the Minister of Education. A process of collaborative inquiry will be used to support administrators to focus their professional growth in the area of the standards, and also to work with teachers to support their professional growth as the revised teacher quality standards are passed. Researchers spent a full day with GPPSD administrators and were impressed
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with the level of the engagement of our administrators and their enthusiasm for professional learning in this manner.
Online reporting initiative (APORI) report
May accountability pillar
Superintendent McDonald shared highlights from the recent APORI report released by Alberta Education. The May report provides an update on the surveys of students, teachers and parents completed in February and May, and Mr. McDonald was pleased to note that of the 10 areas measured by the May report GPPSD measured ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ in 9 of them. As well, 5 of the 10 areas were noted to have ‘improved significantly’ from the prior year. Mr. McDonald shared with Trustees that it is the focused efforts of District Administrators and Teachers that is driving improvement in the District.
Academy high school soccer programming
Moving forward!
MAY 23, 2017
stakeholders may learn more and provide feedback face to face. The curriculum survey is available on the Alberta Education website, and more information about the engagement sessions is available on the NRLC website.
NEWS & EVENTS
Student learner assessment (SLAs)
Update
Superintendent McDonald shared correspondence from the Minister of Education announcing a change in the grade 3 SLAs. The two-year pilot is over, and SLAs are now available for any teacher that may choose to use them. GPPSD’s participation in the pilot this year, as one of 20 Districts in the province, was a success by all accounts, with teachers expressing high levels of satisfaction re: the deep collaborative learning they experienced about their students early in the year. Mr. McDonald shared that the SLAs were an excellent example of effective formative assessment that made a difference in teachers’ planning early in the year and hopes that teachers will continue to use the SLAs in the future.
June 10-11, 2017 Hip Hop Master Classes & Gala Evening, presented by: The Academy Grande Prairie
Explore the potential of having Naloxone kits
Naloxone
Mr. McDonald followed up the recent presentation by the Director of the Academy, Brett Stephenson, with an announcement that the Academy has partnered with Grande Prairie Minor Soccer to move forward with an elite high school Futsal team for the 2017-2018 school year. This team is expected to compete representing GP Minor Soccer and the Academy in showcase tournaments within Alberta during the winter season next year.
Vice Chair of the Board, JoAnn Cazakoff, asked administration about the potential of GPPSD high schools hosting Naloxone kits in order to be prepared should someone’s health be compromised by opioid use while in a District school. Significant discussion occurred on the topic, and the importance of both education and medical readiness to support students and visitors to our schools was stressed. Trustees have directed Administration to explore and report back to the Board about the potential of having Naloxone kids kept in High Schools to be available for first responders.
We have moved GPPSD new Central Office location is: 10127-120 Avenue.
GPCHS’s valedictorian Heide Adham is one of only few students across Canada to win Schulich Leader Scholarships
Dual Credit Programming
Funding announcement Mr. McDonald and Mr. Lehners shared recent correspondence from the Minister of Education re: additional funding for dual credit partnerships within the province. GPPSD has an active dual credit program and were pleased to see the opportunity to develop new partnerships that may further benefit our high school students in the future.
Provincial curriculum
Re-development survey Mr. McDonald shared that educational stakeholders in our District have the opportunity to complete a new survey and provide feedback on the recent developments associated with curriculum redesign. Additionally, the Northwest Regional Learning Consortium is conducting engagement sessions where
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CONTACT INFORMATION
The Bridge Network’s Class of 2017
www.gppsd.ab.ca
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