School District 43 superintendent Tom Grant is welcoming back thousands of students, teachers, administrators and support workers with a full plate of projects and plans.
Next Wednesday will be the first full school day after Tuesday's brief introduction, when heads will be counted and classes organized.
With teachers' contract talks off the table until the next spring, Grant said he's optimistic teachers will be back in the classroom ready to teach and projects that were put on hold last year can be dusted off.
Number one on his list is a resumption of discussions about a new SD43 vision called Learning Without Boundaries, aimed at guiding the school district for the next 10 years. That project was shelved when teachers stopped meeting with administrators and Grant says it can't go ahead without their input.
"We need to meet again to get the words right," said Grant, noting Learning Without Boundaries is notable for the number of people who provided input. He said he hopes both the Coquitlam Teachers' Association and CUPE, which represents the district's non-teaching staff, will come back to the table, along with parents, represented by the District Parent Advisory Council, and students.
"Our intention is everyone signs on," he said.
Once it is approved by school trustees, possibly later this year, the district will find ways to translate "words on paper" to action, Grant said.
SD43 is already moving forward on numerous fronts to improve teaching practices, boost learning and provide more choice to parents and students, he said. Many of these new initiatives reflect the province's new education plan (www.bcedplan.ca), and the district will be looking at new ways of using technology, creating flexibility and choice as well as what Grant calls "personalizing learning" so students learn in the manner that is best for them.
New research is expected to aid children in the classroom. One project being conducted with experts in the field of autism will help all students with self-regulation so they learn to calm down when they are antsy and buckle down when they are losing focus,
Teachers and support staff will be engaged in learning teams to improve their practice and curriculum changes are on the way that Grant said will reduce the number of topics in a subject, and allow teachers to go deeper into a topic.
"The hope is that by letting us do less," he said, "we'll be able to do better."
The district also hopes to get get average kids, not just the leadership students, more involved in their education by looking at ways to improve "student voice." As well, two new programs are starting this September to give kids more options, and allow them to choose what and how they want to learn.
At Meadowbrook elementary, 92 students in kindergarten to Grade 5 are enrolled in a new Reggio Emilia program, in which education is self-guided and parents are more involved. And at the formerly closed Millside elementary, 35 students in Grades 8 to 11 will delve into topics such as community and global issues, environmental sustainability, media art and design, and technology using laptops as education tools. (More information about both programs is available at www.sd43.bc.ca under Programs.)
A Mandarin bilingual program, meanwhile, is starting its third year at Walton elementary with 180 students registered in kindergarten to Grade 3.
The two new offerings arose from a series of community forums last year in which parents said they wanted more choice for their kids and more involvement for themselves.
"They wanted more choice in the way their children learn but they did not define choice narrowly, [such as just] classrooms and assignments; they also indicated they wanted more involvement in their schools and more opportunities for their children outside the classroom."
