Rocky View Schools continued its mandate of public engagement with a May 12 meeting to inform community members of progress and its vision for its new three-year plan.
The two-and-a-half hour meeting touched on many topics including integrating digital learning, engaging students better in class and employing the best tactics to equip students for the future.
The plan, to begin in September, will be formally presented to the board of trustees June 2. It was described as a collaborative effort by Bruce Pettigrew, board chair.
“We believe that engagement emerges from the ground up,” said Pettigrew to a crowd of about 80. “We believe that the ideas come from the community. When ideas come up, then we have a lot of commitment to the plan, a lot of deep and rich discussions.”
The school board first held a public meeting Feb. 14 to speak with community members and 70 people attended.
Superintendent of Schools Greg Bass outlined planning, focus groups, community meetings, forums and social media to reach parents and determine how the plan could achieve its fullest potential.
“We believe it’s very important to honour our community,” said Bass.
“So many people took the time to share ideas with us on Feb. 14 and be engaged throughout this entire process. It’s really, for us, another invitation and open door, making sure our community understands that we want to work on building tomorrow’s future together.”
People broke into discussion groups midway through the meeting for about 20 minutes to debate hat the school division is doing well and where it can improve.
Students from W.G. Murdoch presented issues and how to achieve the best results in and out of the classroom from their perspective.
Later on, four short presentations were given on universal accessibility, profiling individuals students for best success, inquiry-based learning and a strong one-on-one environment between teachers and students.
Many teachers and students from county schools had presentations set up outside in the atrium, showing attendees projects they created through innovative learning.
Teacher Sarah Morrison from Crossfield Elementary gave a Skype demonstration with some of her students who have connected with classrooms as far away as North Carolina. Grade 1 team teachers Grayson Adams and Kara Vincent brought three students to display information about their recent event raising money for an African orphanage.
Parent Larry Martin attended the meeting and said it was very informative.
“Certainly they are on track from what they’re trying to do,” said Martin, whose 10-year-old son attends Kathyrn School. “Community engagement in anything that we do, I think is very important. It’s very important to have that kind of engagement and do those presentations.”
Julianne Harvey has a child in Grade 2 at Crossfield Elementary and called the morning exciting.
“I came away so pumped and inspired just by the fact that Rocky View is interested in what parents have to say,” she said. “They’re not just talking in an ivory tower about stuff. It feels like the sky is the limit with what we can do with our kids together.”
Students from Chestermere High School’s culinary arts program served lunch after the meeting.
