Tag Archives: Alberta Education

#PSD70′S Innovative Journey Continues…

Posted on by
Reply

In Parkland School Division we talk about having “jumped” and are focused on preparing our children for the 21st Century and the ever-changing global community. For a number of years now, we have been hearing about 21st Century learning skills. Well, we are now in 2013!  We are well into the 21st Century and it is safe to say that innovative practices are changing the way that students learn and our teachers teach in PSD schools.

A great figurative example can be found in August of last year, when PSD’s 1,100 staff gathered at MCHS to start the school year. One of the videos shown for our staff on opening day was of a young skier about to launch from a much bigger ski jump than she had ever tried previously. The most compelling part of the video was how she talked herself through it, and the pride she felt once she made the ‘jump’. In PSD, – whether as educators, support staff, or administrators – we regularly talk, share, and show how we have also made that jump.

Our work to move PSD’s Three Year Education Plan forward is grounded in research but more and more it is becoming research in motion – as we see innovation and best-practices from around Alberta and the world, we adapt, we model, and we change our course when necessary.  Few people question that the education system we have known for over a hundred years will serve our children in the same way it did our generation. But, shouldn’t we be questioning if a school system established in the 19th century can meet the needs and expectations of 21st century learners? Can we do things just a bit differently? Don’t we owe it to our kids to try?  Our children have entered a global community where technology is a tool used daily to support the work in many organizations. That is why, in PSD, our updated mission is all about preparing, engaging and inspiring our students to be their best in a quickly changing global community.

We have heard in recent media accounts that Alberta’s new standardized tests will likely emphasize competency over content, and that Provincial Achievement Tests will be replaced with prototype tests focused on literacy skills and competency. Other exciting innovative opportunities include Alberta Education recently announcing an expansion of the High School Flexibility Enhancement Project that will enable more high schools in Alberta to become involved. Spruce Grove Composite High School was one of the first pilot schools in Alberta over the last three years. During the pilot project at SGCHS, the high school completion rate has risen to 82.1%, which is 8% higher than the provincial average for Alberta.

PSD’s ultimate goal of student success and well-being keeps us focused. Whether it is literacy, numeracy, competency-based report cards, learning coaches, professional learning, resiliency work, or the use of technology as a learning tool, we continue our journey toward every child being successful, sharing and learning in our local and global community.  A few highlights of recent innovative work underway in PSD include:

  • Greystone Centennial Middle School Innovation in Education Week. 260 school projects approved by administration were completed, culminating in a showcase at the end of the week for the student body.  The overall purpose was to create learning experiences for students that help them develop and grow in innovative ways.  Learning outcomes were met while allowing students to pursue an area of interest.
  • Supporting PSD’s commitment to inclusion involved implementing a Learning Coach program to facilitate job-embedded and ongoing professional learning for teachers.  We are moving from a model of special education to one where “all’ students are special.  Dedicated learning coaches have been sharing the learning in a blog.
  • Development of a youth resiliency project through hiring a resiliency coordinator to facilitate a division-wide comprehensive school health plan with every PSD school. This project aligns to PSD’s ultimate goal of student success and well-being. PSD is focused on enhancing the resiliency and health of all students, nurturing partnerships and maintaining a commitment to the development of the whole child at all levels of their education.
  • Development of a Learning Leader project where staff and students have opportunities to learn how to use tools such as the iPad to facilitate their learning.  This project highlights how technology is there to support/facilitate our learning in many ways.

Our future is exciting in PSD!  Our children will have opportunities to enjoy, experience and discover new careers we could not even dream of only 10 or 20 years ago.  Our role as schools, educators and school communities is to ensure that students have the skills they need to be ready for this wonderful opportunity.

#PSD70 Learning Together at #NCTCA

Posted on by
Reply

I am pleased to share a recent storify where teachers share their learning. One of PSD’s priorities is engaging staff.  This was exemplified
recently at the North Central Teachers’ Association convention this past week in Edmonton. The two samples from Storify that you see below, aggregated by Division Principal George Couros,  provides a small sample of how PSD teachers are truly engaged and willing to share their learning. Each of us will benefit from their collaborative efforts to share, so that we may continue to strive for PSD’s ultimate goal of student success and well being.

After all our purpose is to prepare, engage and inspire our students to be their best in a quickly changing global community.  Who
better to facilitate that learning than the dedicated, engaged staff of Parkland School Division.

Together we can achieve anything!

Check out Day 2!

Reflecting on a Great Year and Spreading Holiday Cheer

Posted on by
Reply

As the holiday season approaches, and the days get just a little snowier and just a bit colder, we have the opportunity to reflect on the school year we’ve had to date in PSD, but also to look ahead at the promise and potential for 2013. And, of course, it’s a given that we are all incredibly excited to be joining our PSD schools for their annual Christmas concerts – a highlight for many, myself included.

While it does seem that the school year has moved along pretty quickly, it’s reassuring to see so many positive and exciting things happening in our schools and within the Division. We are incredibly pleased to see that PSD’s new vision, mission, values and priority areas are being embraced within our schools. To see our vision that captures exploration, creativity, and imagination come to life in so many different ways in classrooms and staffrooms across PSD has been very powerful to see. Our new three-year education plan is also anchored by our four corporate priorities of engaging our students, staff, and community, in addition to stewardship of our resources. This streamlined approach in defining our priority areas will assist schools with planning, while also making our reporting back to the community more meaningful.

It is indeed a long list of accomplishments for PSD that we’ve seen this fall. We have much to be proud of. The introduction of learning coaches, a transition to the new report card format for all K-9 schools, a continued focus on facility improvements, and innovations with student bussing, have all contributed to meaningful improvement in PSD. We’ve also been seeing a little more about our schools through our local media. Anytime we have the opportunity to showcase student success and innovative school programming with broader community audiences, we increase the understanding of how PSD is committed to student success and well-being.

Ahead of the holiday season, we are also seeing just how important citizenship and social responsibility are to staff and students in PSD. The spirit of giving and helping others is certainly visible in many PSD schools as food drives, clothing donations and other charitable causes are being supported in very meaningful ways. In some cases, we are even seeing individual students lead these initiatives. As our corporate values and beliefs highlight, we are a caring and compassionate organization.

On behalf of our Senior Team, I’d like to extend our sincerest best wishes to you and your loved ones for a happy and safe holiday season. Your ongoing support and contributions play a meaningful role in supporting quality education for all students in PSD. We look forward to an equally successful New Year in 2013!

Message From the Board Chair (November 2012)

Posted on by
Reply

We are now well into the 2012-2013 school year, the weather has turned wintery and the children in Parkland schools are continuing their learning journey.

A lot is happening in the province at this time. As I previously mentioned, the new Education Act is before the legislature as Bill 3. This Act is designed to replace the School Act which has been in place for over two decades. The Education Act is one of the more important pieces of provincial legislation as it will provide a framework for the governance of Education in the province for the years to come. As I write this message, Bill 3 has passed first and second readings and third reading should happen shortly. Once passed by the legislature, it will take about a year for the regulations supporting the Act to be developed. Hopefully by the fall of 2013, the Act will be proclaimed and become law.

Probably the most publicised feature of the Act is the very strong attempt to address the issue of bullying. Boards will be charged with ensuring “a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment that includes the establishment of a code of conduct for students that addresses bullying behaviour”. In addition, the definition of bullying has been extended to include “cyber-bullying” and the Board’s authority to act has been extended beyond the school and school day to include any bullying that affects the school community.

In other business, the board approved the operating budget for the 2012-2013 school year. Some of the highlights are:

  • Total Revenue of $113,631,142 – up over $6 million from last year, due largely to increased enrolment
  • Total Expenditures of $113,631,142 of which approximately:
    • $82M for Instruction (k-12)
    • $7.75M for Operation and Maintenance
    • $10M for Transportation
    • $4M for Governance and System Administration
    • $9M for such things as school generated funds, infrastructure renewal, debt servicing, etc.
  • This year the Board provides service to 9,839 students, employing over 1,000 teachers, education assistants, support staff and custodians

2012-2013 Final Budget Report

Work continues on our System Review with the focus this year on the Stony Plain and area enrolment and accommodation. This is a continuation of previous years’ focus on Spruce Grove and the West End schools.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me at rgilchrist@psd70.ab.ca

Richard Gilchrist
Board Chair
Parkland School Division

Assessment As Learning & Critical Thinking at #PSD70

Posted on by
Reply

Today, we spent the morning with school administrators, learning coaches, and previous AISI lead teachers discussing our new AISI Cycle 5 Project, “Knowing Yourself as a Critical Thinker.”  Carolyn Jensen, put together a storify regarding the day that we would like to share:

 

Our Vision For the Future: Sharing #PSD70′s Priorities

Posted on by
Reply

Here in Parkland School Division we are happy to share our latest video from Parkland School Division that talks about our Vision and Mission. We continue to collaborate, create and learn together as we pursue our vision of exploration, creativity, imagination inspiring all learners to reach their dreams. Please feel free to share comments and questions.

Welcome Back PSD!

Posted on by
1

By Parkland School Division Superintendent Tim Monds (Storify provided by Brian Leadbetter, Director of Communications)

Wow, what an amazing opening week for PSD! I had the opportunity to visit a number of schools across our Division this morning, along with members our senior executive team. It was great to see so many bright, smiling faces of our students ready for another great year in PSD. Our staff in the schools were also incredibly engaged and eager to start off the year, and were very complimentary of last week’s Division PD Day. Thank-you to all of our staff for making this year’s professional development day very memorable as we took the opportunity to unveil PSD’s new vision, mission, values statements, and priorities. The excitement, passion, and collaboration was shining brightly. As you can see from the #psd70 tweets from the day below, we certainly have an engaged and committed staff. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to move forward together with our new vision, and mission and to build on the momentum we’ve begun the school year with. Some of the words I’ve heard to describe our opening day were passion, inspiration, amazing, and opportunities. We’re pleased that staff across PSD found the day so engaging and inspiring. Through our new vision and mission we’re committed reflecting the dynamic and future-focused organizations that we are today.

Amazing Time to be Education #leadershipday12

Posted on by
Reply

We are starting the year here in Parkland School Division with an even greater passion!  Is that possible?  I feel like a kid counting down the “sleeps” until school starts!

As a leader I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such an amazing staff.

We are about to launch the Boards new vision and mission.  Our new vision is contemporary,  leading us forward in what learning looks like today and what it can look like in the future.  This will be accompanied by updated values and beliefs. All of this will be launched at our opening day kick-off on August 29, 2012.

Our continued dedication to being a learning organization will be embodied by not only our students, but our entire community.  Richard Gilchrist, our Board Chair, will be kicking off the second year of the “184 Days of Learning” project and helping to set the tone of another exciting year for the Parkland School Division community.  We are honoured to have a progressive board that believes in going, as Chris Kennedy states, “elbows deep into learning”, with all of our schools.  This forward thinking will only ensure that we get better for kids.

As I think about this year and the excitement about it, I look back to what brought us to this point….

It began with an education planning session with the Board of Trustees and many stakeholders representing many different facets of our community along with all schools.  We looked at the big picture, we used our imagination, we were creatiing and exploring our options, and realized it was time to move on with a new vision to better prepare our children to be a part of our global community that is changing quickly. When I reflect on that day and the numerous stakeholder meetings that followed, I realize the importance of relationships, engagement and authenticity.  As leaders we must have a keen sense of who we are, communicate,  build trust, be positive, recognize our mistakes and limitations, be open and transparent, so we can build an environment where creativity can flourish.  A place where we can all dream!

We need to be able to explore, be creative, and re-imagine our future.

It is an amazing and exciting time to be in education.  A time where sharing, innovation and creativity continuously grow.  We are looking ahead to the future and the possibilities that it holds for our students.  We are proud to be in a province where we have been given the freedom and where we are encouraged to explore how we can further focus on how to improve learning for all.  Alberta Education promotes this learning through Goal two; High quality education through collaboration and innovation.  Within Parkland School Division, we want to focus on how we can not only do this for students, but for all learners within our community.  When we grow, our students grow.  It starts with us.

P.R. Wilson wrote the following statement:

Whether I’m older
or only two…
there are so many things
I can do!

I AM AMAZING!

When we work together, the potential for all of us, especially our students, is unlimited.  I am excited for this year and the opportunities it can bring.  Let’s continue to all learn together and ensure that our students see their “amazing”.

Looking forward to a great year!

Wrapping Up a Good Year in PSD!

Posted on by
Reply

As another incredibly successful year in PSD winds down, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the many successes that we achieved together in supporting over 9,700 students across the Division. And, most importantly – I wanted to say thank-you to staff, parents, and our community partners. Quite simply, without your ongoing commitment of time, dedication, energy and resources we would not achieve what we have together this past year. On behalf of PSD’s senior executive, administrators and staff, thank-you for your service to PSD.

So, what were some of the highlights in PSD from the past year, and why do we have so much to be proud of?

Let me start by highlighting the importance of our community partnerships. Engaging our communities and stakeholders has been a significant priority for PSD over the past number of years, and these efforts grew by leaps and bounds this past year. As we all know, education is a partnership between our schools, parents and communities. In PSD, we are committed to enhancing these valuable partnerships year-after-year. This past year, our Board continued to show its commitment to community input and feedback through our System Review which examined enrolment trends and facility requirements for west end schools, and will next examine Stony Plain attendance boundaries.

As many of you know, this past year also saw the introduction of a new report card for grades K-9 in PSD. Over the course of the year we received positive feedback and some concerns from many parents, students and teachers regarding the new report card. Based on that feedback, we made a number of improvements to the report card for next school year. We know the new report card format is a big change for parents and students and we’re committed to helping parents understand how assessment has changed from evaluating knowledge to evaluating skills and competencies.

Our leadership role as an innovative school division was evidenced in the many successes and accolades received by our ‘Innovative Teaching and Learning Initiative’ after only its first year of implementation. We have seen exciting developments within our learning community and we want to continue to strive to create opportunities for our students to thrive in an increasingly digital age. The introduction of the Learning Leader Program, 184 Days of Learning, the Digital Portfolio Initiative, and our increased social media presence have all shown very positive results for both students and staff alike.

As famed American singer/songwriter Bob Dylan once said, “The times they are a’ changin,” and the adage holds true today as there are many exciting new things you’ll see unveiled in PSD this fall. We’ll ask you to stay tuned for more specific information, but we’ll offer a quick sneak peek now.

Our Board of Trustees is incredibly pleased that we’ll be sharing newly created Division-wide vision, mission, and values statements with our stakeholders this fall. These new statements really do reflect the future-focused and innovative organization that we are today.

We’re also pleased to unveil a new ultimate goal for PSD that focuses on student success and well-being. All of our programs and resources in PSD will be directed to this goal and supporting ‘key elements’ that include: engaging our students, engaging our staff, engaging our community, and stewardship of resources. Collectively, these goals and strategies will enable students to explore, create, imagine, and engage in lifelong learning as they develop their skills to prepare to enter the world of post-secondary studies or work.

This upcoming fall, PSD will also be introducing school-based learning coaches who work to improve student learning and achievement by removing barriers to learning for diverse learners and providing support to teachers to strengthen inclusive practices. The primary goal of the ‘Learning Coaches Program’ is to ensure that in relevant and meaningful ways all students will learn, contribute and be active members of their learning community in the most inclusive and enabling environment.

And, lastly, building on the success of the Parkland Village Resiliency Project, in 2012-2013 PSD will be introducing the Youth Resiliency Initiative across the Division. The Youth Resiliency Initiative is intended to build community capacity to provide programming and educational opportunities focused on developing prevention-focused strategies that build and support a strong foundation for mental health and resiliency in the youth who are served by PSD.

As you can see, when you add everything up, 2011-2012 was another remarkable year for PSD – and, we couldn’t have done it without you! 2012-2013 looks equally as promising, and we look forward to your ongoing contributions when we’re all back in the fall. In the meantime, enjoy a restful and enjoyable summer holiday. We’ll see you in late August with the start of a new school year as we prepare, engage, and inspire our students for another year.

Message from the Superintendent (May)

Posted on by
Reply

Excellence! Teachers teach for it. Students strive for it. Parents expect it. Alberta Education praises it and the community celebrates it. So what is excellence? How do we define excellence and how do we measure it?

The accountability agenda is alive and well in Alberta and we are not shying away from it. In these times of high stakes provincial testing (Provincial Achievement Exams and Diploma Exams) we strive to achieve Excellence, as recorded by these exams. And while PSD students are doing very well at the Acceptable Standard, our schools endeavor to find ways to increase the number of students who are achieving the Standard of Excellence as measured by these paper and pencil tests. Teams of teachers pour over results and analyze the data to determine where they need to reinforce curriculum, change their teaching strategies, introduce new vocabulary, resources or activities.

At the same time, we continue to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their learning, skills, aptitudes and performance in endless situations beyond paper and pencil testing.

Our work is first and foremost about lifting students up to become more than they have imagined possible. As we prepare students for their place in the world – a world, that in some ways we can’t even anticipate, we are always encouraging growth and excellence as defined for the individual student. In addition to demonstrating excellence on provincial tests – our staff, parents, community and students themselves expect see excellence in many different areas of education.

Those areas of potential excellence are endless. We recognize excellence in leadership, music, art, drama and athletics. Our students have opportunities to excel in Career and Technology Studies (CTS) where we see demonstrations of amazing proficiency in Food Studies, Mechanics, Welding, Construction and beyond. Some students have a gift for language learning that is celebrated in second language instruction: French Immersion, French as a Second Language, German or Japanese. You don’t have to look far to see the incredible talents of our youth and we strongly believe that it is our responsibility to serve our students in ways that give each and every student the greatest opportunity to succeed.

Operationally, that means change continues to be the theme for the future. While the educational system of the past has met the needs of the past – today’s situation looks very different. Dr. Sam Shaw (former President of NAIT and currently with Encana), speaking to the College of Alberta School Superintendents last week, talked about the real needs in today’s work place. The skill set of today’s graduate centers around the ability “to learn”, to problem solve and to work as a committed team player. Those critical thinking, decision-making, collaboration and communication skills that we are focused on are the right ones! These process skills are the foundation of life-long learners. Gone are the days when we can focus solely on knowledge and content.

As teachers and students are planning for learning they should be creating a critical question for inquiry. If you can “Google” the question and get an answer – it is the wrong question! Today’s engaged learning needs to pose questions that require students to use their skills to find answers to real problems that are bigger than contrived, isolated subject, text book questions of the past. The stage has been set for students to achieve excellence in meaningful and relevant ways.

We are so proud to say that we are on the right track. And we are so quick to say that we have not arrived. Most importantly we continue to be thankful for the amazing students who learned with us every day. Thanks also to the hundreds of staff members who come to work every day to do what is best for kids. And to our parents, families and community we appreciate your ongoing support that keeps us going and for your tough questions that keep us researching and reflecting and always staying focused on what is best for students. Excellence is always the goal and we have agreement that there is a continual need to find ways to more accurately measure, report and acknowledge a broad range of excellence. Excellence is not the same for every student!

As always, I look forward to hearing from you. You are always welcome to stop by my office, just call ahead and the door will open. Or, if you prefer you can send me a tweet @tmondsPSD70!

Tim Monds
Superintendent – Parkland School Division