On Saturday April 1, 2023, 8 WCDSB secondary school students participated in the Skills Ontario Qualifying Competition at Fanshawe College in London.

Students represented the Waterloo Catholic District School Board with tremendous efforts in the following contests: TV & Video Production, Culinary Arts, Carpentry-Individual, and Welding.

WCDSB will see 3 students advance in the Culinary Arts with a silver and bronze place finish, and the awarding of a wild card space. Please join us in congratulating Jordan (St. Benedict), Nathan (St. Benedict) and Isaiah (St. Mary) as they move on to the Provincial Competition in May.

For the full results for the Qualifying Contests visit: RESULTS

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Thank-you to the hardworking Mentors: Greg Cinti, Tara Clinton, Neil Calhoun, Ken Hodgins, Dave Walker, and Michael Reitz for preparing our WCDSB Team for the 2023 Qualifying Contests.

The 2023 Skills Ontario Competition will take place as an in-person event for the first time since 2019, on May 1-3, 2023 at the Toronto Congress Centre.

Come check out the event as a spectator, and cheer on Team Waterloo Catholic!

WCDSB will be represented at the Provincial Competition by 40 students from all 5 Secondary Schools in grades 10-12.

For more information about the 2023 Skills Ontario Competition, check out the Skills Ontario website.

The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. — Monday, April 3, 2023 at the Waterloo Region Catholic Education Centre.

Meetings

Committee of the Whole Board Meeting

Monday, March 6, 2023 – Meeting Agenda Package

Regular Public Board Meeting

Monday, March 27, 2023 — Meeting Agenda Package

Highlights

2023-24 School Year Calendar

The 2023-24 School Year Calendar was approved in a brief Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees held preceding the regular Committee of the Whole Board meeting on March 6, 2023.

Ontario Regulation 304 provides that school boards are required to prepare, adopt, and submit to the Minister the school year calendar(s) to be followed by the schools in their jurisdiction for the subsequent school year.

School Boards are required to identify a minimum of 194 school days between September 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, of which a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 7 days may be identified as PD days. Three of these must be for Ministry priorities.

The remaining school days shall be instructional days. Boards may designate up to ten instructional days as examination days. Each school year calendar must be accompanied by a general outline of the activities to be conducted on PA days.

The minimum number of instructional days is 187.

• The first day of the 2023-24 school year will be Tuesday, September 5, 2023.
• The last day of the school year will be June 28, 2024
• The last day of school in December will be December 22, 2023 and the first day of school in the new year is January 8, 2024.

Note: Christmas Break takes place between December 25, 2023 and January 5, 2024

The report is available beginning on page 4 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package

Adult Education Update

For more than 35 years, St. Louis Adult Learning & Continuing Education Centres has responded to the local and changing needs of learners within and outside of our Board. In addition to responding to the steady flow of inquiries and referrals from community service providers, employers, and employment agencies, WCDSB and St. Louis have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to supporting adults to:

• Earn secondary school credits toward an OSSD
• Develop literacy and basic skills
• Gain practical employment skills training
• Improve English Language proficiency

The report presented on March 6 2023 covered the following key areas:

• Secondary School Credits (SSC)
• Personal Support Worker (PSW)
• Hairstyling / Barbering
• Culinary Arts
• Core Essentials – Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS)
• English Language Programs (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada – LINC and English as a Second Language – ESL)
• Childminding (Care for Newcomer Children – CNC) and Licensed Child Care
• International Languages – Elementary (IL)
• Literacy & Numeracy, Continuing Education

2021-2022 St. Louis Programs – Overall Notable Highlights

• Balanced a range of program delivery modalities based on student, facility and program needs and COVID-19 protocol implications

• Sought out and created professional development opportunities for staff with an intentional focus on Mental Health, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, the ‘Thinking Classroom,’ and Online and Remote Teaching and Learning skills and strategies

• Underwent an audit of all registration processes with the goal of streamlining and improving processes, workflow, and data management

• Developed first iteration of a School Improvement & Equity Plan (SIEP) for some of the programs at St. Louis

• Continued with an extensive two-year renovation at Main Campus (2020-2022) that saw improvements throughout all classrooms, offices, student service spaces, corridors, and many structural aspects of the campus. The results have been motivating for students and staff throughout the building

• Created a school community art project to highlight diversity and inclusion. A cross section of students and staff at each campus and within each program worked together to produce a school community mural to be unveiled in 2023

The report is available beginning on page 9 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package

Update on Student Equity Engagement Council

With the creation of the Student Equity Engagement Council (SEEC), we are promoting higher-order student voice, involvement, and engagement. This means students are engaging in projects and activities that are initiated by students, but the decision making is shared among students and adults. Ultimately, students use their voice in partnership with adults, and take the lead when feasible, as they engage in community action that benefits their school community.

We hope each school will have its own SEEC (or version of it). In elementary schools, it will consist of students in grades 6, 7, and 8 with at least one teacher/staff member serving as an advisor. In secondary schools, it will consist of students in grades 9 through 12 with again at least one teacher/staff member serving as an advisor.

While we want students to shape the councils and ultimately be the leaders of the councils, we do want students to engage in the following mandate:

1. Explore issues of inequity and exclusion within their school

2. Engage in education activism and promote multiculturalism, gender, and sexuality equity, anti-racism, antibias, anti-oppression in schools (e.g., creating videos, pamphlets, educational opportunities for students)

3. Work throughout the school year with administrators to minimize these inequities and exclusions

4. Work with the Board researcher to assess their work and their impact on their individual school communities

Over the next year, we hope to increase the number of SEECs by 10%. The Equity System Navigator will work with schools to develop their SEEC programs. This year, he attends all of St. David Catholic Secondary School SEEC meetings to participate in an exemplary model. The Senior Manager of Equity occasionally attends the Lights Out (the SEEC equivalent) at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. This group is also doing exemplary work. Ultimately, our hope is students from SEEC come to a board-wide conference to share their work with each other sometime in the next year.

The report is available beginning on page 24 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package

Parent Engagement Update

Ontario’s parent engagement policy recognizes many different forms of parent engagement, and that each is an important contributor to student and school success. Within the policy, parent engagement includes:

• Providing a positive learning environment at home, actively working with children to support what they are learning in school, and making learning an important part of the day
• Having productive conversations with teachers so that there is clear communication between the school and the home
• Becoming involved in school activities and volunteering to help with school events, trips, and other activities
• Participating in School Councils at the school level and Parent Involvement Committees at the board level to provide perspective

The WCDSB has continually focused on supporting the partnership between home and school to meet the various forms of parent engagement as presented in the Ontario Parent Engagement Policy by promoting and supporting:

• Celebration of our Catholic School Advisory Council Chairpersons through our WCDSB annual commissioning ceremony

• Parent Reaching Out Grants

• Catholic Parent Involvement Committee support to schools and Catholic School Advisory Councils

The report is available beginning on page 28 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package

Student Success Update/Plan

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board supports a range of initiatives to facilitate student success in secondary schools — and in the transition to secondary schools — with the understanding that every student learns in their own way.

Ontario’s high schools – including our own St. David CSS, Resurrection CSS, St. Benedict CSS, Monsignor Doyle CSS and St. Mary’s H.S. (with the support of our St. Louis Adult Learning & Continuing Education Centres and St. Don Bosco CSS) — are working with communities, employers, colleges, universities and training centers to offer more ways than ever to help students focus on their interests and support their learning.

The goal is to meet the needs, interests and strengths of all students and provide equitable opportunities and positive outcomes that engage students in their learning and better prepare them for graduation and a post-secondary destination — be it an apprenticeship in a skilled trade, college, community supported living, university, or the workplace.

And the WCDSB’s Experiential Learning programs which support that vital goal, are among the most robust in all of Ontario.

The report presented on March 27 2023 covered the following key Student Success initiatives:

• General Programs and Pathways
• Specialist High Skills Major Program (SHSM)
• School College Work Initiative (SCWI) – Dual Credit Programs at Conestoga College
• Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)
• Cooperative Education
• University Co-op Education Program (UCEP)

The report also provided an update on the de-streaming of the Grade 9 curriculum and WCDSB graduation rates, and offered a look at some Student Success initiatives in elementary schools.

The report is available beginning on page 25 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package

Board Chair’s Update

Each month, the Chair of the Board reports on the activities of the Board of Trustees. Chair Tracey Weiler’s report for March 2023 is available on page 63 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package

Student Trustees Update

Student Trustees Chloe Armstrong and Anika Fejerpataky presented their monthly update – covering activities in WCDSB’s secondary schools. It is available beginning on page 60 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package

Upcoming Board Meetings

Committee of the Whole Board Meeting

Monday, April 3, 2023 — Waterloo Region Catholic Education Centre

Regular Public Board Meeting

Monday, April 24, 2023 — Waterloo Region Catholic Education Centre

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board, representing more than 96,000 Catholic school supporters, operates 48 schools and four adult education facilities, serving more than 40,000 elementary, secondary, and continuing education students in Waterloo Region – continuing a 186-year tradition of quality, inclusive, faith-based education. Follow us on Twitter: @WCDSBNewswire – #WCDSBAwesome.

Nominations are open for the annual WCDSB “Distinguished Graduate Award”, “Community Partner Award” and “Chair’s Award”. Information about the awards (including the Distinguished Graduate Award nomination form) is available HERE. There are no nomination forms for the Community Partner and Chair’s Awards.

If you wish to make a nomination in any of the categories, please submit your rationale in writing along with any supporting documentation you feel appropriate, to Alice Figueiredo by Friday, March 31, 2023. Hard copy or emailed nominations are equally acceptable. Alice can be reached via email at alice.figueiredo@wcdsb.ca.

Chair’s Award

The Chair’s Award is presented to a person (or group of people) in the school system who has contributed significantly to Catholic Education. It is given annually in recognition of outstanding contributions made in serving the students, staff and greater community of Waterloo Region and/or to the betterment of Catholic Education in Ontario in general.

If you submitted a nominee in prior years and wish to have the individual nominated again, please resubmit your application.

Recipients

• 2022 – Jamie Metcalf
• 2021 – John Dietrich
• 2020 – Paul Cox
• 2019 – Mary Jo O’Brien
• 2018 – Tom Denomme
• 2017 – Glenda Leusink
• 2016 – Nancy Sabo
• 2015 – Joni Grundy
• 2014 – Marianna Worth
• 2013 – Michelle Flood and Mary Stevens
• 2012 – Bruce Cameron
• 2011 – Gai Brown
• 2010 – Theresa Horan
• 2009 – Jeannie McCarroll
• 2008 – Angela Davis
• 2007 – Thomas Forestell, Mervyn J. Villemaire, Charles Van Alphen
• 2006 – Deb Zettel-Schmitt
• 2005 – Allan Hoch, Jennifer Rodrigues, Louise Ervin
• 2004 – Gary Leduc
• 2003 – Pat Brannigan, Michael Schmitt
• 2002 – School Sisters of Notre Dame / Sisters of St. Joseph
• 2001 – Dave Schnarr, Bill Brazeau, Pat Cannon, Warren Grafton, Horst Schweinbenz
• 2000 – Fr. Fred Scinto, C.R.
• 1999 – Ann O’Donnell-Beckwith
• 1998 – Bob Anderson

Community Partner Award

The Community Partner Award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding contributions made to Waterloo Region’s Catholic Schools by a community partner or agency serving the students, staff and greater community of Waterloo Region.

If you submitted a nominee in prior years and wish to have the individual nominated again, please resubmit your application.

Recipients

• 2022 – Mental Health and Addiction Nurse Program
• 2021 – St. Mary Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows Roman Catholic Church
• 2020 – Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate
• 2019 – Langs Community Health and Wellness Centre
• 2018 – St. Vincent de Paul Store (Cambridge)
• 2017 – Settlement and Education Partnership of Waterloo Region2015 — Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council
• 2016 – Conestoga College
• 2014 – Strong Start Charitable Organization
• 2013 – Barrday Inc.
• 2012 – Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region
• 2011 – Nutrition for Learning
• 2010 – Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
• 2009 – Rex Barger
• 2008 – Reid’s Heritage Homes
• 2007 – Congregation of the Resurrection in Waterloo Region
• 2006 – Region of Waterloo Public Health
• 2005 – Waterloo Region Catholic Schools Foundation
• 2004 – St. Jerome’s University
• 2003 – Waterloo Regional Police Service
• 2002 – Catholic Family Counselling
• 2001 – Waterloo Region Catholic Community Foundation

Distinguished Graduate Award

The Distinguished Graduate Award was established in 2005 under the Board’s “Celebration of Excellence” policy. It is presented annually to a graduate of 10 or more years from Waterloo Region’s Catholic Schools who has provided an outstanding example of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations in action. The award is presented at the graduation exercises of the recipient’s Secondary School or another appropriate public venue.

If you submitted a nominee in prior years and wish to have the individual nominated again, please resubmit your application. Nominations will be retained for 3 years.  This does not preclude anyone from being re-nominated in any given year.

Nomination Form

Recipients

• 2022 – Tom Galloway, former WCDSB Trustee and Region of Waterloo Councillor
• 2021 – Dr. Laura Shoemaker, former Superintendent of Learning, WCDSB
• 2020 – Michael Dopp, author and founder of Mission of the Redeemer Ministries
• 2019 – Richard Hepditch, Chief, Waterloo Fire Rescue
• 2018 – Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations
• 2017 – Most Reverend Bishop Daniel Meihm, Bishop of Peterborough
• 2016 – Michael Schmitt, Former WCDSB teacher, Principal, Superintendent & Director of Education
• 2015 – Douglas Letson, C.M., Former President & Vice-Chancellor, St. Jerome’s University
• 2014 – Katherine Bergman, President & Vice-Chancellor, St. Jerome’s University
• 2013 – Mary Jo Fedy, Managing Partner, KPMG — Waterloo
• 2012 – Toby Collins, C.R., Vocation Director for the Congregation of the Resurrection
• 2011 – Teacher / missionary Sister Barbara Paleczny, SSND
• 2010 – David Eby, Executive Director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association – and current Premier of British Columbia
• 2009 – Paul Voisin, C.R., Vicar General of the Diocese of Hamilton (Bermuda)
• 2008 – Former Ontario cabinet minister – and current Wilfrid Laurier University Professor — Dr. John Milloy
• 2007 – Lisa LaFlamme, Anchor – CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme
• 2006 – University of Waterloo professor Brian Orend
• 2005 – Ontario Superior Court Justice Patrick J. Flynn

The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. — Monday, March 27, 2023 at the Waterloo Region Catholic Education Centre.

A Message from Region of Waterloo Public Health:

Region of Waterloo Public Health has made the decision not to resume the annual enforcement of the Immunization of School Pupil’s Act (ISPA) for the 2022-2023 school year. This means that students who are overdue for required vaccines will not be suspended during the current school year.

Due to the COVID pandemic, many students have missed the opportunity to receive their immunizations. Public Health will continue to offer expanded catch-up clinics for students who are missing vaccines. It is expected that full ISPA enforcement activities, including suspensions, will resume in the 2023-24 school year.

Please use this time to ensure your child is up to date on their following mandatory immunizations. Immunization information, including how to book an appointment at Public Health catch-up clinics, can be found at .

All students attending school must either have a proof of up-to-date immunization or have a valid medical or non-medical exemption under the Immunization of School Pupils Act. Each school year Region of Waterloo Public Health reviews immunization records and notifies families about overdue mandatory vaccinations. Students are then provided with opportunities to catch-up on missed vaccinations through Public Health clinics or their health care provider. Typically, students who remain overdue after a period of time are suspended from school for up to 20 days.

Some vaccines are required under the Immunization of School Pupil’s Act (measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, varicella and meningococcal vaccines). If you choose not to immunize your child or your child is unable to be immunized for medical reasons, a legal exemption is required. Additional information about exemptions can be found at .

Parents/students should submit updated immunization records to Public Health via:

Online: www.regionofwaterloo.ca/updateimmunizations (anytime and preferred)

• Email: Immunizationservices@regionofwaterloo.ca
• Phone: 519-575-4400 ext. 5001 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

Parents with questions can call Public Health at 519-575-4400 or visit our website at .