The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has announced that all of its members will be engaging in a one-day strike on Tuesday, February 4. This decision affects all Catholic district school boards in Ontario.

As a result of this strike, all Waterloo Catholic District School Board elementary and secondary schools will be closed on February 4.

All WCDSB extended day programs will be open for the day as usual (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) for students currently registered in the program.

Secondary school credit courses, hair styling courses and culinary arts courses offered at the WCDSB’s St. Louis Adult Learning & Continuing Education Centres campuses will be cancelled on February 4. St. Louis guidance and correspondence services will also be unavailable on February 4. All other St. Louis programs will be open and running on their normal schedules.

Community use of schools activities will continue as scheduled.

OECTA’s previously announced administrative job actions will remain in effect before and after February 4.

As before, we remain hopeful the two sides will return to the bargaining table quickly and will come to a fair and respectful agreement that serves the best interests of our students.

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

The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. — Monday, January 27, 2020 — at the Waterloo Region Catholic Education Centre.

There are more than 40,000 students and staff learning and working in Waterloo Region’s Catholic schools – and each one has their own unique story to tell.

So…we’re very proud to be launching a new website feature called – 40,000 JOURNEYS.

Here’s our introductory VIDEO.

Be sure to bookmark the page and check 40,000 Journeys frequently. You’ll see why learning and working in Waterloo Region’s Catholic schools really is the journey of a lifetime!

Tweet using the hashtag #WCDSB40000Journeys

Important Update: On January 21, 2020 all WCDSB extended day programs will be OPEN for the day as usual (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) for students currently registered in the program.

A previous communication indicated extended day programs would not operate that day.

An updated version of that earlier message is provided below.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

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Tickets are now available for the annual WCDSB Bishop’s Banquet — Tuesday, May 5, 2020 @ Resurrection Catholic Secondary School in Kitchener.

FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION CONTACT MS. JODY FRITZ:

TEL: 519.578.3660 EXT. 2373 OR EMAIL: JODY.FRITZ@WCDSB.CA

A CHARITABLE RECEIPT  WILL BE ISSUED FOR A PORTION  OF THE TICKET PRICE

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has announced that all of its members will be engaging in a one-day strike on Tuesday, January 21. This decision affects all Catholic district school boards in Ontario.

As a result of this strike, all Waterloo Catholic District School Board elementary and secondary schools will be closed on January 21.

Additionally, all WCDSB extended day programs will also close for the day.

Secondary school credit courses offered at the WCDSB’s St. Louis Adult Learning & Continuing Education Centres campuses will be cancelled on January 21, but all other St. Louis programs will be open and running on their normal schedules.

Community use of schools activities will continue as scheduled.

OECTA’s previously announced administrative job actions will remain in effect before and after January 21.

As before, we remain hopeful the two sides will return to the bargaining table quickly and will come to a fair and respectful agreement that serves the best interests of our students.

As a result of the current OECTA job action, teachers are not permitted to assist in the administration of EQAO assessments.  At the current time no further talks have been scheduled between OECTA and the government.

Therefore, in consultation with all other English Catholic school boards, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board will not be administering the Grade 9 EQAO mathematics assessment this January.  This is also true in all English Public school boards.

This decision will not impact Grade 9 math credit completion, and the final mark will now be based solely on other summative assessments, and EQAO will not factor in the final mark.

As we move forward in the year, we will have to work in collaboration with other boards and the Ministry of Education to determine what will happen with the possible assessment of EQAO later in the year.

Communication will flow at a later date in that regard.

We thank you for your understanding and wish all of our students a successful exam schedule.