Graduation joy at HRH.
GYPSD briefs
Special to the Post Learning News
GYPSD’s Board of Trustees is pleased to support full-day kindergarten programming in all schools as the division endeavours to provide a solid founda¬tional start of skills and development to ensure our students succeed. Through ongoing assessments and evaluations during this important first year of schooling, valuable data assists teachers in orga¬nizing their instruction, increasing learning time and closely monitoring each child’s progress to maximize their development and readiness for entry into grade one. 29% of kindergarten-aged children in Alber-ta experience great difficulty in one or more of the five areas of development which include physical health, social competence, emotional maturity, lan¬guage and thinking skills, and communication skills. Research has shown that full-day kindergarten con¬tinues to have a significant impact for those children who struggle. Oskâyak Youth Camp
Sandy Axmann, Supervisor of Learning Services, reported on the 9th Annual GYPSD Oskâyak Youth Camp which took place last month. Forty three grade 6 and 8 Cree Language students from Edson and Grande Cache took part in this year’s success event and the division is already planning on expanding the camp into three days next year which would allow for up to 90 students to participate. Students were in¬volved in team building activities, Indigenous games using Cree Language, nature walks with trained Al¬berta Parks personnel, as well as canoeing lessons. Students learned how to identify plants, make rope using dog bane, do first aid using materials from their surroundings, construct a snare, practice archery and other target practices. They learned about resi¬dential schools, canoe dancing, and built friendships with students from other schools. Capital Projects Update
Facility Services updated the Board on two current capital projects in the division: the modernization project for Grande Cache Community High School (GCCHS) and the replacement school in Edson.
The GCCHS project is moving forward slightly ahead of schedule with Phase 4 planned to be completed by September 1, 2016. This phase includes the par¬tial demolition of the existing gym and construction of the new community/ school library. Over the summer months, the current two-storey section will be demol¬ished and construction of the new gymnasium, ad¬ministration areas and main entrance will also begin. The project is scheduled to be completed towards the end of the 2016-17 school year.
The Board was very pleased to learn that the A.H. Dakin/ Evergreen Replacement School project has been tendered by Alberta Infrastructure on June 8 with a closing date planned for June 23. The project is managed by Alberta Infrastructure under a‘DesignBid-Build’ approach thus all updates and information on the capital project is provided by the Province to the Board. The project is scheduled for completion by June 30, 2017.
Other news in brief
As per changes to Policy 7 - Board Operations ear¬lier this year, trustees conducted their annual Or¬ganizational Meeting for the upcoming year prior to the start of today’s Public Board meeting. Lobstick Trustee Brenda Rosadiuk was re-elected as Board Chair for another term, and Joan Zaporosky from Edson was elected to the Vice Chair position. During the meeting, trustees also re-established their committee assignments for the upcoming year.
Trustees approved amendments to Policy 20 - Professional Growth of Teachers to include school area/ projects as alternate proposals for professional growth activities under the policy.
The 3rd Quarter Financial Report was provided to the Board on the current status of the division’s Statement of Revenues and Expenses as of May 31, 2016 which is in alignment with projections.
Individual schools submitted their proposed Program and Non-Program Fees for the upcoming school year to the Board for review. It was noted that these fees can vary between schools due to costs, budgetary constraints and programming however all fees are audited to ensure that only approved fees are charged, and that they are used for the purpose to which they were intended. Families expe¬riencing financial hardship can apply for waiver of all school fees under AP 505.
Trustees approved funding up to a maximum of $10,000 from undesignated reserves in support of the Métis Association’s after school program that has been in place for several years in Grande Cache. The program coordinators have asked for possible funding support to assist them for beginning of the year expenses for the 2016-17 school year as prior provincial and federal funding has ended, and they are actively seeking new funding.