WCDSB Board Meeting Bulletin — January, 2020
Meetings
Committee of the Whole Board Meeting
Monday, January 13, 2020 – Meeting Agenda Package
Public Board Meeting
Monday, January 27, 2020 — Meeting Agenda Package
Highlights
Healthy Active Living
WCDSB’s commitment to Healthy Active Living among our students continued to be strong in the 2018-19 school year. This year’s report draws attention to a number of key advancements and a great set of celebratory achievements:
- Implementation of PPM 138 – Daily Physical Activity (DPA)
- Don’t Walk in the Hallway Program
- Professional Development for Planning Time Teachers
- New Canada Food Guide
- Foundations for a Healthy School
Looking ahead in 2019-20, schools will continue to be supported with Healthy Schools planning as the St. Mary’s family of schools will be the last family brought into the Region of Waterloo Public Health nurses support model. The Don’t Walk in the Hallway program will be rolled out in all schools. The new PPM 158, School Board Policies on Concussions, requires significant attention regarding concussion education, training and tracking within our system. Professional development will continue throughout all elementary school levels as the new Health & Physical Education curriculum dictates. All outdoor education teachers in the secondary school panel will undergo rigorous retraining as required every three years.
The full report is available on pages 8-11 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package
Mathematics Update
The report presented to the Board of Trustees on January 13, 2020 provided updated information with respect to the following:
- Math Lead Teacher (Elementary)
- Mathematics PD Day (Nov. 15, 2019)
- Math Coaching Update for Targeted-Support, Board-Identified & Intermittent schools
- Mathematics Leadership Learning Series for elementary principals
- Priorities within Secondary Math
- Next Steps for Math Professional Learning: Elementary & Secondary
The report is highly detailed, with numerous charts and graphs, and can be viewed on pages 12-18 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package
Strong Start Program
For fifteen years, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board has worked with the Strong Start Charitable Organization as a community partner in raising children’s literacy levels and more effectively utilizing our volunteer allies. In 2004, the Letters, Sounds and Words program was first offered in five schools within the Waterloo Catholic District School Board. It has now grown to all 43 elementary schools. Strong Start began in Waterloo Region and has now been adopted by seven other school boards. In 2014 the WCDSB awarded its Community Partner Award to Strong Start.
The report presented to Board of Trustees on January 27 focused on the following key Strong Start programs:
- Letters, Sounds, and Words (LSW)
- Get Ready for School (GRFS)
- Baby Connections
The full report is available on pages 26-28 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package
Update on Property Matters and Major Construction
The report presented to Board of Trustees on January 27 provided information on the status of vacant properties and those that are being considered for purchase. It also provided information on major construction.
Key areas of focus were:
- Capital Priority Requests
- Property Disposition
- New Site Acquisitions
- Major Construction Projects
- Proceeds of Disposition
The full report is available on pages 29-32 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package
Leadership Strategy Update
The Ontario Leadership Strategy was developed in 2008-2009 to foster leadership of the highest possible quality in schools and school boards. School and system leaders play a critical role in creating the conditions of success, increasing student achievement, reducing gaps in student achievement and increasing public confidence in publicly funded education. As part of the Ontario Leadership Strategy (OLS), each district in the province had been provided funding and support to develop and implement a Board Leadership Development Strategy (BLDS). While the BLDS is no longer financially supported through Ministry of Education funding, the WCDSB maintains that our goals mirror the goals of the OLS – that is, to:
- attract those contemplating the vocation of leadership to the roles;
- develop personal leadership resources in individuals and promote effective leadership practices in order to have the greatest possible impact on student achievement and well-being; and
- develop leadership capacity and coherence in organizations to strengthen their ability to deliver on education priorities.
Our comprehensive leadership plan includes:
- Catholic Leadership Series: Developing the Leader Within, Authentic Leadership and Advanced Leadership
- Induction Series
- Innovation Series
- Catholic Leadership Series- Theology on Tap Sessions
- New Teacher Induction Program
The Life-Long Learning Series was put on hold this year to review delivery format and potential offerings.
The full report is available on pages 66-73 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package
Board Chair’s Update
Each month, Board Chair Bill Conway reports on the activities of the Board of Trustees. The report for September 2019 is available on page 36 via this link: Meeting Agenda Package
Upcoming Board Meetings
Committee of the Whole Board Meeting
Monday, February 10, 2020
Waterloo Region Catholic Education Centre
Regular Public Board Meeting
Monday, February 24, 2020
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 184-year tradition of quality, inclusive, faith-based education. Follow us on Twitter: @WCDSBNewswire – #WCDSBAwesome.
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For more information, please contact:
John Shewchuk – Chief Managing Officer | (519) 578-3660 | john.shewchuk@wcdsb.ca
