In what will be a first for Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS), the division will soon launch an online survey to garner opinions on the draft of their three-year plan.
Superintendent Jayson Lovell explained to trustees at their meeting last Thursday that the B.C.-based contractor, ThoughtExchange, is set to release the division’s survey later this week. It is slated to be rolled out to staff by Oct. 14 to be followed next week with email invitations to participate in the process being sent to parents.
The email will include a link to the survey as well as a short introductory video from Lovell that will describe a bit about the process and what is in the three-year plan.
For those that don’t have children in WCPS, they will able to participate as well by going to the website: www.wolfcreek.ab.ca and looking for the survey link.
The results from the survey are not expected to be available until the end of November.
Hiring process
Trustees approved the process to find a replacement for the soon-to-be retiring secretary-treasurer Joe Henderson, which will involve contracting the use of a consultant from the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA). Henderson has announced he will be leaving at the end of the current school year.
The process will see the formation of a hiring committee, which will include a pair of trustees, to pour over the recommendations from the consultant and participate in the interview process.
Note-worthy business
Lovell stated there have been a lot of events taking place of note in the division over the past month.
That includes the addition of a new female elder — Esther Mackinaw — to their First Nations program, where she will assist in instruction of Cree at both Ponoka Elementary and Ponoka Outreach schools. The public and staff will be able to participate in the new curriculum engagement process from Alberta Education through a survey and public meeting slated for the WCPS division office in Ponoka on Oct. 27.
Also at the meeting, trustees were informed of the present work being done to comply with the new provincial government requirements surrounding Bill 10 regarding welcoming, safe and caring learning environments. Trustees were also told of the steps being taken by WCPS to separate the division from school fundraising societies and were updated on a new enhanced learning model project at a pair of small rural high schools.
Lovell explained administration and staff will be taking part in a couple of professional development opportunities soon, specific to the requirement under Bill 10 and working to complete a policy update for the government deadline of Nov. 30. In addition, he said that action is being taken as follow up to a letter from Alberta Education regarding staff involvement in school fundraising societies, of which there are 16 in WCPS, to ensure staff who are involved or have active roles in these societies are not in a conflict of interest.
As for the enhanced learning project, Greg Esteves, WCPS technology integration director and Sean Lougheed, WCPS director of learning services, provided a brief update on the success of the pilot project that saw 10 WCPS master teachers develop high level material for 21 different courses that are being used by Grade 10 to 12 students in Alix and Bentley.
The courses are presented online, but act as a resource to assist the classroom teacher. The educator facilitates the course in a face-to-face manner with the student while both have content specialist supports. The online material is also available at anytime, anywhere and has potential for use in other schools in the future.