11-13-2017 GPPSD Board Highlights

Grande Prairie Public School District

November 13, 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 Joan Nellis TRUSTEES Andre Ouellette Lesley Craig Lynn Driedger Paulette Kurylo Rob Martin SUPERINTENDENT Alexander McDonald ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT, SECRETARY-TREASURER Jeff Olson ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Nick Radujko ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF PROGRAMS & PLANNING James Robinson ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, STUDENT SERVICES Christina Farquharson

UPCOMING DISTRICT DATES REGULAR BOARD MEETING Monday, November 28, 2017 06:00 p.m., Central Office

Above artwork is by Kayla Stewart, Grade 4, Alexander Forbes School The Academy.

Her artwork won first place for the 2017 GPPSD Christmas Card Art Contest.

GPPSD PRESENTATION Gifted Education Programming Update

Susan Picard, Gifted Education Coordinator and Christina Farquharson, Assistant Superintendent provided the Board an update on the District’s Gifted Education programming. The update included a breakdown of the programs offered through Gifted Education. They also explained the screening process for the Board and also provided an update of the number of students served by this program. In the current school year, GPPSD is providing services to 158 students.

BOARD CHAIR REPORT

School Remembrance Day Ceremonies Board Chair Lehners passed along his thanks to the schools for their excellent work at organizing Remembrance Day ceremonies on Thursday, November

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9th. The Trustees all had kind words to say about the day and appreciated the efforts put in by staff and students.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT Principal’s Meeting

Superintendent McDonald provided a report on the October 25th Principal’s meeting which focused on reviewing operational practices connected to the beginning of the school year. An afternoon session workshop by the Alberta School Councils’ Association on supporting effective school councils gave the principals insights on how to grow their school council. The day continued the district focus on deep collaborative learning related to District priorities.

Alberta School Councils Association (ASCA) Presentation The afternoon session provided to Principals was repeated in the evening where approximately 8 school councils were represented in an evening of learning.

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Page 2 | GPPSD BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

New Secretary-Treasurer/ Associate Superintendent of Business Services Superintendent McDonald introduced Norm Guindon, the new Secretary-Treasurer to the Board. Norm, who grew up in the Peace Region, has significant financial experience and we look forward to his presence at the Board table and at the District Office.

High School Tours Superintendent McDonald reported on the tours to Edmonton and Calgary high schools taken by representatives of Alberta Education, Alberta Infrastructure, our New Composite High School architects, and three staff members (Mr. Voybeyda, Principal, Mr. Robinson, Assistant Superintendent and Mr. McDonald, Superintendent). The purpose was to identify design features in recently built schools that may be considered for the upcoming design phase of the Grande Prairie Composite High School replacement project. Seven schools were toured and discussions are scheduled to continue up until the Christmas break.

Draft Three Year Education Plan & Annual education Results Report Superintendent McDonald shared a draft of the annual plan due to Alberta Education by the end of November.

Mr. McDonald noted the draft included the goals being considered by the District as they address Alberta Education’s five outcomes from their Business Plan.

The three priorities for GPPSD, carried forward from the existing three year plan, remain: (1) Continuing to focus on improving student achievement, (2) continuing to focus on address the systemic achievement gap experienced by some First Nations, Metis and Inuit students, and (3) Continuing to improve our High School completion rates. The complete report will be brought to the Board for approval at the November 28th meeting.

College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS) Fall Conference Superintendent McDonald reported on the attendance of the Central Office leadership team at the CASS Fall Conference where they spent time on building assurance and system-level improvement. The team used the team planning time and scheduled sessions were utilized to to increase the coherence and alignment of planning within our District.

International Field Trip Request Superintendent McDonald brought a request submitted under Administrative Procedure 260: Field Trips for an Academy Program trip to the United States. The request has been reviewed by administration and the Board approved the request for our students to participate in this trip subject to continued compliance with the International travel rules under AP 260.

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CULTURE AND ENGAGEMENT

NEWS & EVENTS

Alberta WE day-GPPSD teacher awarded Global WE Day Champion award Superintendent McDonald attended a breakfast at the Saddledome on November 1st. The breakfast was for the Alberta WE day event and, at the breakfast, 4 provincial awards were handed out including one to Charles Spencer High School teacher Miss Shaylene Penner. She received the Global WE Day champion award for, “her passion for service-learning coupled with her dedication to fostering a global mindset among her students….” And for helping the Maverick Student Movement Committee support WE villages in Tanzania.

Shay was one of six nominees from across the province and was the unanimous winner of this prestigious award.

GPPSD CHRISTMAS EVENTS: Watch for Christmas events coming to your local school.

District Christmas Card Contest Students from grades 4-6 submitted their original art work for consideration to be the District’s Christmas card this year. There was a great response to this contest and after some tough discussions finalists were brought to the Board. The Board judged the finalists work and chose the following students cards as the first three places: 1st Place (this is the design which will be used for the card plus a cheque for $100.00)- Kayla Stewart (Grade 4 Alexander Forbes) 2nd Place ($50.00 cheque) - Jadassa Wiebe (Grade 6 École Montrose) 3rd Place ($25.00 cheque)-Deanna Martin (Grade 5 École Montrose)

We will hand out the cheques to the winning students after November 27, 2017.

Roy Bickell Biographical Plaque Superintendent McDonald provided the Board with the draft of the content for the plaque that will take a place of honour at Roy Bickell Public School.

ALBERTA EDUCATION The Minister of Education will be attending the Grand Opening ceremony for Roy Bickell Public School on November 30th, 2017 and the Board is pleased to host him for this event. As part of this visit, Superintendent McDonald provided information that the Minister will also be taking the opportunity to briefly meet with the Board earlier in the day, before the opening.

CONTACT INFORMATION PHONE 780-532-4491 EMAIL communications@gppsd.ab.ca

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