SGD

SB

Director’s N

ewsletter

September 29th 2017

Small Schools Make a Difference”

In 2015-16 Superior-Greenstone (28.2%) had the second highest rate of persistent absenteeism among elementary students in the province (11.3%). Among our Grade 8 students the rate soars to a staggering 51.5%. Based on 194 days of instruction, a student who misses 19 days of school is deemed persistently absent. With the number of student appointments, sporting events, family commitments, travel days, and illnesses, it doesn't take long to reach this number. Studies and research support what teachers instinctively know: that student absence negatively affects academic performance and important emotional and social connections are compromised. That’s why we’ve created the Here campaign, to give “every school day counts” champions a brand, a name, and a voice. School board staff can use the Here campaign tools as a springboard to form directed, focused plans to combat absenteeism and bring students back to school.

This campaign’s aim is to build awareness around the attendance issues in our region and to provide communication tools to help improve attendance in our schools.

Who is this for?

For Students, I'M HERE means they are present. They are on the role. In their seats. We can count on them in. They are “here” physically and mentally. For parents, I’M HERE” means they are ready to assist. Ready to encourage their children, ready to reach outand ask for help if they need to, ready to team up with teachers and ready to make plans to ensure their children get to school.

For teachers and staff, “I’M HERE” tells us that there dependable, concerned, and caring adults waiting to offer children a safe, welcoming, student centred learning environment with an investment in their academic achievement.

David TamblynDirector of Education

Together We Can Make a Difference; Inspiring our Students to be Agents of Change

SGDSB Tackles Absenteeism with launch of “Here” Campaign

For community, “I’M HERE” demonstrates that organizations care about the children in their cities, towns and villages. They want to provide supports – medical, financial, social – to ensure that families can get their children to school.

General Campaign Guidelines Persistent absenteeism is a serious problem in SGDSB but with implementation of best practices and a long-term plan, it is solvable. The “Here” campaign is part of the solution. “Here” provides a cohesive visual approach with consistent messaging that helps build awareness of the importance of going to school every day.

Dovetailed with individual school initiatives and strategies, the Here campaign can help highlight and improve attendance at the elementary and secondary school level throughout the district.

Below is a starting list of do’s and don'ts to get you thinking as you work to increase attendance atyour school.

● Do address absenteeism right away. Early identification of school attendance issues is just as crucial to a child’s progress as identification of learning difficulties. Ensure that interventions are immediate, nonthreatening, and persistent. School administrators and supporting staff can work to deal with the underlying causes before absence becomes ingrained.

● Do celebrate good and improved attendance by providing regular recognition and rewards to students and families.

● Don’t focus on perfect attendance since children who struggle the most will be left out of such awards. Incentives and contests take advantage of the fact that students often respond better to concrete rewards and peer pressure than they do to lectures from parents and teachers.

● Do ensure that your school community engages students and parents with a warm and welcoming environment that offers compelling learning opportunities and programs.

● Do help families understand the positive impact of good attendance and the negative effects of chronic absenteeism. Even excused absences can cause children to fall behind. By providing consistent and intentional messaging regarding attendance expectations from early years and on, families can build the habit of attendance in early grades and improve their children’s chances of graduating.

● Do model and teach resiliency, self-management, organization, and staying out of trouble skills. Use September to teach children how to be students, how to cope when things are difficult, how to persevere, how to maintain a growth mindset. Schools need to ensure that children have basic life skills, develop emotional and social intelligence, and learn self-regulation.

● Do develop better processes for tracking absenteeism and responding to it. The problem seems overwhelming and has been ignored from a systemic perspective for too long. Implementing new processes is hard. Schools that track attendance more closely have better results. Dedicate staff time to attendance.

● Do employ top-down team building by creating principal-led attendance teams that meet regularly to analyze attendance data and coordinate efforts to reduce persistent absence. Early data can trigger a response that starts with personalized early outreach that helps identify barriers to attendance — hunger, health, shelter, transportation or other challenges — and the supports or resources that would help improve attendance.

● Do train staff, especially teachers, in how to deal with persistent absenteeism especially in the elementary grades. Use mental health professionals and behavioural modification specialists to work with staff to learn how to de-escalate situations and create calm, welcoming environments where all students can be successful.

● Do ensure that every child has a champion. Caring adults developing a one-to-one relationship with every student and/or parent is the best first step. Students should expect that teachers, administrators, and community agencies are caring and friendly. Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like. You must discover what reason children need to come to school.

The learning environment in our board continues to change as we respond to the needs of our 21st Century learners through a student centered approach. When we use the term “environment” we are not only speaking of the physical environment, but also the social and emotional environment as well, as we know that “ the key to learning in today’s world is not just the physical space we provide for students but the social space as well” (The Third Teacher Monograph). The 21st Century Competencies, as well as the need to foster well-being through a student centered approach to both the environment and pedagogy, guide the work that we do as we identify the changes to our learning environments. We have many examples of how our learning environments are being transformed. We are extremely grateful for this work as it is an example of our collective work - educators, principals, our board staff, and the Plant Department have all played a significant role in this work...have a look! Nice work SGDSB!

Nicole Morden-Cormier, Superintendent of Education

Transforming the Learning Environment at Superior-Greenstone District School Board

Our Mission, Vision and Values

At the Superior-Greenstone District School Board everything we do is designed to help all students achieve to the best of their abilities. It is our commitment to ensure our collective daily efforts make a positive difference in the lives of our students, their families and the world. Guided by our mission, vision and values we build positive places for learning and working…together.

Follow the experience of some of our student leaders at:

https://storify.com/ksnakina/sgdsb-student-leadership-camp?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email

Thanks to Kathleen Schram for putting this Storify together!

As a new school year begins, we hope to be able to build on the foundation laid in the last three years to build capacity in staff to address a range of mental health issues in the school and class in a tiered fashion; to select those practices and programs that are evidence based and are shown to be effective; and to facilitate pathways to care for those who require it. A range of activities and processes are planned for this year based on the Tell Them From Me climate survey from last year, interviews and conversations with staff, summary of presenting issues from our mental health nurses, hearing directly from our students in our student engagement circles, and participation in staff and parent meetings to name just a few. All of this data was synthesized this summer and forms the basis of the mental health action plan. Specific highlights will follow in the months ahead. One of the biggest activities for this month will be the implementation of the Strength Based Resilience program. Teaching staff from all our schools participated in three day training last summer on this and this year they will be implementing that in their schools and classes.Just by way of background, we supported the SBR direction because we wanted to respond to the question of how to we can incorporate positive mental health and well-being into the fabric of the school and in classroom curricula in tangible, measurable ways. The SBR program aims to prepare our students to deal with inevitable obstacles, stressors and challenges head on using their character strengths. Participants learn ways to explore, express and enhance their personal toolbox of psychological assets, namely, their character strengths. They will learn ways to spot their strengths from their lived experiences and also learn how to notice the strengths of others. Specifically, participants will learn strategies and skills to cultivate gratitude, savouring, altruism and empathy in order to deal with their problems using their own personal strengths. In doing so, they will nurture their growth and resilience at the same time. SBR is not about building a caricature of happiness, it is about identifying and amplifying strengths such as grit, self-regulation, zest, curiosity, optimism, hope and love. SBR has been created to teach students how to use their strengths adaptively in order to solve both everydayand extraordinary problems. We look forward to hearing from our educators and students on their experience with this program and the impact it has.

Mental Health Strategy by George Drazenovich

We are looking forward to another exciting year for the Student Success Portfolio. Our work will continue to support the 5 pillars for student success. We will continue to focus on the renewed math strategy (RMS) for grade 9 applied teachers and support on-going literacy supports to enhance our students achievement.

SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) UpdatesWe currently have 4 SHSM programs in the board -Mining - MRHSEnvironmental - GCHS, LSHS, MNHSManufacturing - LSHSHealth and Wellness- LSHSThis provides our students with a red seal when they graduate and additional certifications that will support them in their post secondary pathways.

Dual Credits - we are very excited to have our continuing partnership with Confederation College. We have a number of dual credits that we offer to our students. These include Transportation, Manufacturing, Hospitality,

Student Success LeadHeidi Patterson

Early YearsBy Hillary Freeburn, Early Years System Principal

On September 7th, many K-2 classes headed outside to begin the year learning in their outdoor classrooms and participate in Outdoor Classroom Day. Students and staff got their hands dirty by exploring their school grounds, harvesting from the gardens that were planted in the spring and searching for earthworms that had appeared after the rain. In the Kindergarten program, learning in the outdoors is included as part of the instructional day, and the educators play an active role, engaging with children in an inquiry stance as they play, explore, and learning together outside the classroom.

Making a Difference in Our Environment

Lake Superior High Schools Grade 11 biology class and Outdoor Environmental Science class has placed a compost bin with red wiggler worms in the lunchroom. The nutrients that are produced will be used as a sustainable source of nutrition for the plants within the school. The staff and students of LSHS are reducing their ecological footprint and learning about sustainability!

Environmental Stewardship

Meanwhile at Marathon High School Student council and the school teamed up to provide all students and staff with a reusable Falcons water bottle for use with our new filling stations.

This is the fourth year for Superior Greenstone District School Board’s Summer Learning Program and it was another huge success. The program runs in Geraldton, Marathon, and Terrace Bay and provides the opportunity for 75 children in the district to help maintain their literacy and numeracy skills throughout the summer.

This year the kids participated in the program from July 4th to July 21st. Teachers kept the kids busy with field trips to the lighthouse in Terrace Bay, Pukaskwa National Park in Marathon, and Recon Air in Geraldton. Students also visited local fire and police stations, paramedics, libraries, and local grocery stores. Teachers and students alike braved our rainy summer to gain the most experiences possible. “Today was a little chilly but that didn’t stop us from walking over to the local grocery store. We received a tour around all of the healthy food sections. We were able to find all of the items on our grocery list and learn about prices,” said Carleigh Gifford, student-teacher at the Geraldton site. Literacy and numeracy skills were interwoven in each field trip, so students had fun while learning.

Parent’s involvement was noticeably increased this year and it made a positive impact on the overall program. As Vanessa Watkins, the Terrace Bay teacher, stated, “Thank you for being such involved parents! We have had a great few weeks.”

Superior Greenstone District School Board funds the program completely so there is no charge to the participants. Student’s learn new strategies for literacy and numeracy and work with familiar strategies to maintain their levels throughout the summer.

The Summer Learning Program will run again next July. Look for enrollment forms starting in May to have a chance for your child to participate in this valuable program. Have a safe and wonderful summer!

Students in Marathon attend Pukaskwa National Park to participate in literacy and numeracy activities.

2017 SUMMER LEARNING PROGRAM ANOTHER SUCCESS FOR SUPERIOR GREENSTONE DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

Austin Pelletier, Gr. 8, Cooper Cocks Gr. 7, Liam Stenlund Gr. 8, Erin Coutre Gr. 8, Chase Wrigley, Gr. 7 and Kyle LaBelle Gr. 7, are all students taking part in the new hockey skills program offered at George O'Neill Public School in Nipigon. (Jeff Walters/CBC)

Students in Grades four through eight at George O'Neill Public School in Nipigon, Ont., are often arriving early for class in the morning.

The kids want to get to school early, because they want to talk with their friends and classmates about what they will learn in the afternoon hockey academy."I've been talking to parents, and they've called and said there seems to be an increased motivation for their kids to get up in the morning," said Kellie Wrigley, principal at George O'Neill Public School in Nipigon.

"We have students showing up at ten after eight when they're not supposed to be here until 8:30. It's hard to say, 'Oh, you guys can't be here,' but they're excited. They're looking forward to it."The program at George O'Neill is the first in the Superior-Greenstone District School Board, serving communities east of Thunder Bay.

A similar program has been in operation for a couple of years at the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board in Kenora, Dryden, Red Lake and Sioux Lookout.

● Keewatin Patricia school board students learning more than just hockey● More kids to pack sticks, stakes when they head off to school

"In small communities, we really need to think about the opportunities that we can provide," said Wrigley. "I feel like it is a responsibility of mine as a principal in a small community to provide our students with every possible opportunity that we can."Wrigley said about half of the Grade four students have signed up for the program. In grades five through eight, just under half of the students will incorporate hockey into their curriculum."This is a program that we knew our students would respond really well to, we knew there was a lot of interest."Wrigley said she knew the uptake for the program would be strong. However, some of the students who wanted to take part, took her by surprise."We have students who have been playing hockey for years, and have a lot of experience. And, we also have students that are new to the sport," said Wrigley. "Either only played one year, or have never played at all. And we have some students who are just learning to skate."

Hockey program in Nipigon teaches more than on-ice skillsGeorge O'Neill Public School first to pilot program in SGDSB By Jeff Walters, CBC News

Calendar of Events

September 29th - Professional Development Day - No classesSeptember 30th - Orange Shirt Day - Every Child MattersOctober 5th - World Teachers’ DayOctober 9th - Thanksgiving DayOctober 15th -20th Local Government Week October 23rd - Board Meeting - Manitouwadge High SchoolOctober 27th - Professional Development Day

If you haven’t yet had a chance, be sure to check out our Math Matters website to understand the connections of our work and to see how the site can support your

needs throughout the year! Click HERE to access a recording that gives a brief overview of the intent of the site.

Transitions from Red Rock Public School to George O’Neill Public SchoolOver the last several months, staff and families have been working diligently at transitioning the students from RRPS to their new schools. I couldn’t be more proud and inspired that 7 students have chosen to join GONPS in September 2017. Plans began in May with many opportunities for us to visit and collaborate with the staff between the two schools. By the end of June students felt a strong sense of belonging to GONPS which only made the transition in September that much smoother! When I stopped in to see how students were settling in during the first week of school, they had actively joined the school community (already volunteering in the lunch box!), they were busy learning and playing with their new classmates and they had established relationships with staff in the building. It was clear these students were HAPPY. I need to thank every staff member within SGDSB who played a part in ensuring the students at RRPS were welcomed into their new school and made the transition for families that much easier. We truly do put the well-being of students at the centre of all that we do.

SGDSB Appoints Amanda Gyori as VP at Dorion PSAmanda began her teaching career in Windsor, Ontario area working as an occasional teacher in classrooms from Kindergarten to Grade twelve for several years. She then moved to La Loche, a remote Dene community in Northern Saskatchewan where she taught grade seven at La Loche Community High School. Her career then took her to North Battleford, Saskatchewan where she spent five years teaching grades one and three at Connaught Community School. Gyori holds a Bachelor of Education degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in History and Political Science, both from the University of Windsor. She also holds a Masters degree in Education Leadership and Administration from the University of New Brunswick.