Premier's Award for School Board Innovation and Excellence

Summary of the 19 entries for the 2002 Premier's Award

BATTLE RIVER REGIONAL DIVISION NO. 31 (Camrose Area)
Project: Facility Enhancement of PACE Outreach School

PACE Outreach School has new home
A $500,000 injection into Battle River Regional Division's PACE Outreach School has given students a new sense of belonging.

When the program was first launched, students met in a building that has since been condemned. The program subsequently moved to temporary quarters downtown and this spring relocated to the new Camrose Community Centre.

Having struck three-year partnerships with municipal and provincial governments, the Battle River Board of Trustees was instrumental in developing a state-of-the-art educational facility that ensured PACE students would enjoy the same technology advantage as the rest of the division. For the first time in its history, PACE is able to offer a multitude of direct instruction classes – including drama.

Serving 170 students this year, the facility was designed for youths aged 16 to 20 who experience difficulty in their personal lives that interferes with their ability to learn in a traditional school environment. PACE School provides a low student/teacher ratio and individual education plans that allow each student to learn at their own pace.

A unique feature of the new school is that it provides office space to caseworkers from outside agencies such as AADAC, TIPS, Alberta Justice, Youth Connections, DARE and public health to meet with students on school premises.

For more information, contact Superintendent Dr. Warren Phillips at 1.780.672.6131 or e-mail

CALGARY CATHOLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
Project: Kara Program for Pregnant and Parenting Students

Catholic school board lends a hand to pregnant and parenting teens
The Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School Board has taken the title of the popular song 'Lean on Me' to heart. Ten years ago, after identifying a need, the board launched a special program that would allow pregnant and parenting teens to stay in school.

"The Kara program is one of the shining stars of our district. It says to the students in the classroom 'Here are some of your friends who need your help,' "said Calgary Catholic board chair Linda Blasetti. "It teaches students about being part of a caring community. It’s one of the best programs we have."

Since Kara opened in 1991, more than 300 students have gone through the program. Another 450 have sought help with pregnancy and chastity issues. Collaborating with groups such as the Calgary Catholic Diocese, the Catholic Women's League and the Calgary Health Region, Kara provides students with the information needed to make moral decisions about their future and the future of their child, including knowledge about child development and positive parenting skills. It’s a model of how school, family and community can work together to meet student needs.

Annual continuation rates of Kara students are between 70-80 per cent. The national continuation rate for pregnant and parenting students is about 34 per cent.

For more information, contact Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Simms at 1.403.298.1383 or e-mail

CHINOOK’S EDGE SCHOOL DIVISION NO. 73 (Innisfail area)
Improving Student Services Through Professional Development

Project helps meet special needs on site
Small rural schools face a significant challenge in the assessment and program delivery for special needs students. However, one school division has overcome that hurdle with a three-year plan that involved sending teachers back to summer school and offering special training sessions – in-house and through Red Deer College – to special needs assistants.

Under the Improving Student Services Through Professional Development program, Chinook’s Edge School Division Board of Trustees and its schools picked up the $32,000+ training tab so that teachers could learn to administer and interpret specific Psycho Educational tests that measure individual achievement in expressive, receptive and written language, reading and mathematics. Using their new skills, the teachers can also plan and implement individual program plans (IPPs) as required. They can also determine which students require further testing by outside agencies

Until now, the division transported students to major centers for testing or paid travel and consulting fees to bring in chartered psychologists.

The program has improved service to students at no additional cost. The number of students served by IPPs has increased to more than 1,000 from 850 with immediate help at the school level without waiting for level B testing. School personnel have improved in their ability to interpret various test scores and in their confidence in relaying this information to the parents.

For more information, contact Superintendent Jim Gibbons at 1.403.227.7070 or e-mail

EDMONTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Amiskwaciy Academy

Program tackles drop out rate among Aboriginal high school students
Hoping to turn the tables on an alarming drop out rate for Aboriginal high school students, Edmonton Public School trustees recently opened the doors to a new high school that delivers far more than a traditional education.

Amiskwaciy Academy was specifically designed to meet the special needs of Aboriginal students. The concept for the academy was born in 1999 when the board made improving Aboriginal education a district priority.

Although Aboriginal programs already operated at the elementary and junior high levels, the board noticed that 75 per cent of Aboriginal high school students were dropping out of school.

Expecting the Aboriginal population to double from about 10 per cent to 20 per cent over the next decade, the board decided the trend had to be turned around. After consulting Aboriginal elders, trustees set out to create a school that offered a full range of academic courses that would be complemented by optional courses and extra-curricular activities that would improve student self-esteem and increase student knowledge of Aboriginal history and spirituality.

To make the dream a reality, the board secured $12 million in funding for the school for a six-year period. In January 2002, Amiskwaciy relocated from downtown to the former Edmonton Municipal Airport building. Enrollment has already risen to 400 from 290 in 2000/2001.

For more information, contact Superintendent Angus McBeath at 1.780.429.8010 or e-mail

GOLDEN HILLS SCHOOL DIVISION NO. 75 (Strathmore area)
Reaching & Teaching – An Alberta International Conference

International conferences sow the seeds of change
The spirit of learning is alive and well and growing in Alberta, partly because of the efforts of a small southern rural school jurisdiction.

Three years ago, Golden Hills School Division trustees bought into a proposal by four teachers to host a professional development conference that would focus on the latest educational research.

Trustees invested $30,000 in the initial venture knowing the conference had to attract 600 registrations to break even. They knew they had a winning strategy when enrollment reached 1,500 and included educators from as far away as Japan.

The idea was to feature internationally renowned speakers who are leaders in various aspects of educational research including school culture, brain research and technology.

The conference fits in with the Alberta Initiative on School Improvement in that it promotes taking action and innovative approaches to education and helps make the transition from research into practice. Conference speakers have already had a significant impact on the face of education in Alberta. Initiatives rising out of conference sessions include the Galileo Initiative on the effective use of technology and the Pyramid of Intervention, which provides a safety net for at-risk students.

Trustees continue to support the event by hosting it and by participating in the book discussion groups.

For more information contact Superintendent Dr. Garry McKinnon at 1.403.934.5121 or e-mail

GRANDE YELLOWHEAD REGIONAL DIVISION NO. 35 (Edson/Hinton area)
Basic Education Videoconference Network-3V (Voice Video Vantage)

Videoconference network connects teachers, students and communities
Providing an equitable education to 5,750 students in 20 schools across 340 kilometres is no easy task. But the Grande Yellowhead Regional Division put its best minds together and devised a strategy that meets their needs and helped pave the way for Alberta's SuperNet.

Trustees believed technology could resolve some of their challenges and that a broadband videoconference network would increase high school students' access to courses and subject area specialists, boost professional development opportunities and allow administrators and committee members to meet without incurring the cost of personal travel time and vehicle expenses.

Allocating $240,000 to the project, the division – through its technology and maintenance and facilities departments – constructed a videoconference network. Completed in April 2002, it linked nine videoconference suites and 40 desktop PCs throughout the Division.

Initial use focused on cooperative curriculum projects, professional development activities, in-service training and meetings. Successes include:

GYRD led the way in researching and piloting industry standard videoconference technology in the basic education sector. The project raised several provincial planning issues that will ensure jurisdictions and government departments can interconnect on Alberta SuperNet.

For more information contact Superintendent Dr. Klaus Puhlmann at 1.780.723.4471 or e-mail

GRASSLANDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS (Brooks area)
Grasslands Mobile Career and Technology Studies (CTS) Facility

Semi delivers welding and automotive shop
If you can't take the students to the classroom, you might try bringing the classroom to the students – even if it’s in a 53-foot semi with slide outs on each side.

Responding to a lack of facilities, the scarcity of Career and Technology Studies (CTS) teachers and the riding times of busing students to a central location, Grasslands Public Schools designed and built a 900-square foot, self-contained, mobile welding and automotive classroom that would take components of the CTS program to Grade 7 to 12 students in four division schools.

The semi – the first of its kind in Canada – has been outfitted for welding and automotive classes and includes all the amenities found in a permanently constructed classroom. It rolled into action this September.

The concept originated with the Grasslands facility committee. Board support was crucial in converting the concept into reality. Costs were kept to a minimum by seeking corporate donations and continuing sponsorships from the business community.

The project employs a full-time CTS teacher who will move the portable classroom from school to school and gives students the opportunity to participate in skill-developing programs that would otherwise not have been available to them.

For more information, contact Superintendent Al Bellamy at 1.403.793.6700 or e-mail

HORIZON SCHOOL DIVISION (Taber area)
Horizon Student Leadership Council

Students take leading role in making schools safe and caring
" When we liberate the leader in everyone, extraordinary things happen."

Following the April 1999 shooting of a W.R. Myers High School student, Horizon School Division increased its focus on promoting a Safe and Caring School (SACS) climate and related initiatives.

The division's goal is to ensure all students, including those in elementary and junior high, feel safe and cared for. Trustees have worked extensively with staff, students and the community to provide programs that not only meet students’ academic needs but that address their social, health and emotional issues.

One such initiative – proposed by students – was a Student Leadership Council where youths could play a key role in making school a haven. The students wanted a focus group that could work outside their own schools to share, problem-solve and create a particular climate throughout the division. The board bought the concept and established a council with an $8,000-budget to focus on SACS initiatives for Grades 7 to 12.

The 50 students on the council determine its priorities, directions and strategies. Individual school teams formulate action plans and take them back to their schools. All 12 schools involved have implemented SACS initiatives such as the Ambassador program, Justice Circles and Anti-bullying and Harassment policies and programs.

For more information, contact Superintendent Eric Johnson at 1.403.223.3547 or e-mail

LETHBRIDGE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 51
Work and Accomplishments of the Board Poverty Intervention Committee

Giving people in poverty hope
Lethbridge School District No. 51 is blazing a trail in dealing with student poverty issues that could be a path other school jurisdictions across the country may decide to take.

The Lethbridge Public Board Poverty Intervention Committee has increased staff and community awareness of the existence of poverty in the jurisdiction and its initiatives have already begun to improve educational outcomes for affected students and their families.

In launching the committee in Spring 2000, the Lethbridge Public School Board was the first in Canada to establish a poverty intervention policy. The idea came from one trustee who recognized poverty existed in the community and who was overwhelmed at knowing where to start in dealing with it. The district already had strategies in place but this trustee felt more needed to be done.

The committee's first project – under the Canadian School Boards Association’s Mobilizing the Community initiative – was to expand the district's Making Connections program by hiring a native family support worker to build trust and to better connect native families with the school and the community.

Other committee successes include:

For more information, contact Superintendent Mal Clewes at 1.403.380.5301 or e-mail

LIVINGSTONE RANGE SCHOOL DIVISION NO. 68 (Clareshom area)
LAPTOPS- Learning Anywhere Program to Optimize Student Success

Livingstone Range investigates laptop potential
Prompted by a provincial focus on technology and efforts to create a SuperNet to give Alberta's rural communities access to high-speed telecommunication technology, Livingstone Range School Division launched a research project to find out how laptop computers could better deliver instructional material and improve rural students’ learning opportunities and performance.

Teaming up with the University of Lethbridge, the division also set out to determine the most effective way of using technology at different grade levels and to assess the benefit of mobile technology. A fourth objective was to improve home/school communications regarding student learning.

Project participants were divided into three groups. Grade 9 students and teachers in Group A were equipped with laptops with a view to exploring the benefits of each having a laptop to facilitate learning. In Group B, only the teachers were given laptops. Their task was to use the technology to demonstrate concepts and then to use traditional computer labs or classes for further activities. In the last group, the laptops were incorporated into a mobile wireless lab that could be rolled into classrooms.

Research results are not completed but already improvements to student work, parental involvement, better communications between home/school and community support have been noticed. Even trustees have switched to using laptops for division business.

For more information, contact Superintendent Dr. David Rideout at 1.403.625.3356 or e-mail

NORTHERN GATEWAY SCHOOLS
Travelling Art Program

Student talents showcased in public venues
Move over Picasso, Matisse and Leonardo DaVinci – students in Northern Gateway Regional Division have taken over your display place.

Focusing on the fine arts, the division implemented a School Travelling Art program to showcase the artistic talents of its students. Teachers and administrators select and forward outstanding examples of students’ work to the division office for framing and inclusion in one of five to six collections.

The division rents the art from the students, paying each an honorarium for the year, and then ships the collections to schools, municipal offices and public libraries within the region. Collections are rotated every four to six weeks. At year-end, the pieces of art are returned to individual students.

All collections but one are based on projects the students would normally be undertaking in their classes. However pieces of art, depicting various aspect of street and bus safety, are solicited for a busing collection. Selected pieces are mounted and displayed in each of the buses in the division on a monthly basis.

"It’s an effective way to honor students," said Superintendent Eugene Miller adding the division is looking at ways of showcasing the talents of its musicians, choral speakers, singers and drama students as well.

For more information, contact Superintendent Eugene J. Miller at 1.780.778.2800 or email

PALLISER REGIONAL SCHOOLS
SPARK: Supporting Positive Learning, Achievement & Research for Kids

Mapping a path to improvement
Looking beyond the symptoms of unsuccessful learning to the root causes, Palliser school trustees inject $400,000 annually into professional development strategies that will allow teachers to identify gaps, overlaps and redundancies in instruction.

Under a program dubbed SPARK – Supportive Positive Learning, Achievement & Research for Kids, the Board encourages teachers to work together to make responsible and purposeful decisions on ways to improve the learning environment.

One initiative – curriculum mapping – involves nine district schools and has resulted in the development of made-for-Alberta software that promises to be of interest to jurisdictions throughout the province. Teachers at all grade levels document all of the methods used in delivering a particular course and compare notes with counterparts working at other grade levels. By identifying what worked or didn't work, the team of teachers can zero in on gaps in student learning and refine the delivery process to make it more efficient and effective.

For example, when provincial achievement tests identify a weakness in student performance, the responsibility for identifying roadblocks and for making changes in course delivery rests with the team as opposed to an individual.

To date, more than 200 curriculum maps have been completed. Curriculum mapping also allows teachers to plan together, to double up on resources and to provide a more efficient instructional model.

For more information, contact Superintendent John Bolton at 1.403.328.4111 or e-mail

PARKLAND SCHOOL DIVISION (Stony Plain Area)
Greening and Renewing Our World (GROW)

Gardening program plants seeds of success
Some Parkland teachers are getting their hands dirty – literally. They have taken to gardening as a way of nurturing a variety of academic and life skills in students.

Under a program known as GROW (Greening and Renewing our World), rural Kindergarten to Grade 6 teachers have been using gardening to introduce students to practical classroom applications such as data management.

The project began with a Grade 1 Keephills School teacher who had students sow geranium cuttings under an indoor artificial light. She wanted to instill patience, perseverance, responsibility and pride in students while illustrating science unit concepts.
Noticing a dramatic improvement in students, she examined ways of integrating horticulture into other areas of the curriculum such as linking good nutrition to good health.

Today, GROW is an outdoor 98 foot x 150 foot hands-on, raised-bed, learning centre for the school's 100 Kindergarten to Grade 6 students. Local businesses donate materials and services for the outdoor garden. Seniors help students make preserves and a horticulturalist works with the school to develop more learning opportunities for the students.

Trustees paid for a chain-link fence around the garden and have coordinated recognition programs for primary business and community sponsors. Trustees also allowed the school to incorporate GROW into its education planning goals and provide release time for the teacher to present the program to other schools and at conferences.

For more information, contact Superintendent Mary Lynne R. Campbell at 1.780.963.4010 or e-mail

PEACE RIVER SCHOOL DIVISION NO. 10
Peace River School Division Integrated Wireless Network for Information and Communication Technology

Staying ahead of the technology game
A controversial move to invest manpower and money into developing a wireless network for a northwestern Alberta school division has yielded numerous learning benefits and significant cost efficiencies to the division.

In the mid-90s, Peace River school trustees, like so many of their rural counterparts, faced major logistical and financial challenges in overcoming technological barriers that limited program offerings to students and subsequently hindered academic development and achievement.

A land-based Wide Area Network was established in 1995. However, it quickly became apparent that limited bandwidth using telephone lines placed severe limitations on the system and people using it. Poor download speeds and user limits frustrated all stakeholders. The board examined several improvements to the landline system. However, when trustees realized inexpensive wireless technology offered 100 times the bandwidth of a telephone line, they decided the division should build its own system.

Acquiring financing from various sources and striking an agreement with a local service provider, the board erected transmission towers at four schools clustered in the western, most sparsely populated part of the division.

The end product has surpassed board expectations. Students and staff at every grade level now have uninterrupted network, e-mail and Internet/Intranet access giving them more access to distance learning opportunities and professional development networks. Switching to a wireless network has reduced annual network operating costs by 20 per cent.

For more information, contact Superintendent Dave van Tamelen at 1.780.624.3601 or e-mail

PEMBINA HILLS REGIONAL DIVISION NO. 7 (Barrhead area)
Reaching and Teaching Students at a Distance

Overcoming the distance barrier
While most school boards only have to be concerned about students within their boundaries, Pembina Hills' jurisdiction encompasses the whole world.

Although its focus is on providing distance-learning courses to Alberta-based students, the division's Distance Learning Centre caters to adult students as well as individuals out of province.

Having won the bid to house Alberta's Distance Learning Centre in 1997, Pembina Hills School Division set out to become leaders in the effective delivery of distance learning programming.

Over the past four years, the ADLC has implemented numerous initiatives to make distance learning more interactive between student and teacher, to ensure distance learning resources are current, appealing and employ up-to-date teaching strategies and to facilitate partnerships between home school supervisors and schools and parents.
Initiatives include:

Feedback suggests the initiatives have been well received. Enrolments have increase by 118 per cent since divestiture. Funded completed credits have increased by 58 per cent while funded FTEs have increased by 18.5 per cent.

For more information, contact Superintendent Sig Schmold at 1.780.674.8500 or e-mail

RED DEER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Alternative School Programs

No cookie cutter education here
While regular schools offer an incredible range of programs, courses and services, some student still need alternatives for the school experience that responds to their unique needs.

Red Deer Public School District has been providing alternative education for years but recently implemented some initiatives to respond to the changing needs of students.

The district now offers a dozen different alternatives to the traditional school setting; including schools at the hospital, in the remand centre and in institutional and residential centres in the area. Each has a distinct purpose with a specific program aimed at meeting specific needs.

The district has established an administrative structure for the programs that is responsive and supportive. It has recruited specialized staff committed to meeting more than just a student's learning needs but to providing social and emotional supports.

Students in alternative settings need to focus on developing critical interpersonal skills and attitudes. Key to the program is encouraging behaviour changes in school that will impact them later in life.

"We've been quite deliberate in not having one program cater to many different needs," said principal Bruce Handcock. "When you understand where these children are coming from, it is remarkable what they are accomplishing."

For more information, contact Superintendent Don Falk at 1.403.343.1405 or e-mail

ST. ALBERT PROTESTANT SCHOOLS DISTRICT NO. 6
Girls Empowered

Special program for girls explores issues facing women
St. Albert's Protestant Schools is arming young women with the tools they need to effectively and positively deal with gender issues at school, in the workplace and in their daily lives.

Begun as an initiative at Lorne Akins junior high school, the program encourages Grade 9 female students to examine the problems women have faced throughout history and to look at their role in society today. The program was designed to empower young women to make conscious decisions about their personal and professional lives and encourages discussion on issues surrounding body image, relationships, job challenges, personal safety, portrayal of women in the media, women in non-western cultures and women’s medical issues. Discussions also focus on the difference between power over and power with others when is appropriate. Teachers use field trips and guest speakers to round out studies.

When the program was launched in 1998, 19 students registered for the option. Over the next three years, registration jumped to 80 per cent of the school’s female Grade 9 population. The course has led to the discussion of issues for both females and males in the schools throughout the district and some schools have implemented Boys' and Girls' Circles where each group can meet to discuss and deal with gender-related issues.

Girls Empowered resulted from board of trustee discussions and is funded by the board.

For more information, contact Superintendent Joe Demko at 1.780.460.3712 or e-mail

ST. PAUL EDUCATION REGIONAL DIVISION NO. 1
PAUSE - Placing Accountability Upon Student’s Education (PAUSE)

Suspended students given chance to examine behaviour
Students suspended from regular classes in the St. Paul Education Regional Division have a unique opportunity to turn things around.

The school board wanted to put an end to the belief that suspensions were an unsupervised holiday so the board approved funding for Placing Accountability Upon Student's Education (PAUSE) – an alternative program that would allow suspended students to receive academic support and intensive counseling in a special school setting.

The program, operating with three professionals, is not yet mandatory and requires parental consent.

Program participants spend half the day working on class assignments that they would otherwise have missed. The other half is spent in counseling sessions where students and trained staff examine every aspect of the behaviour that netted the one to five-day penalty. In one situation, it was determined a student was not eating nutritional food and couldn't stay awake. Other situations were the result of a lack of anger management or conflict resolution skills. Where appropriate, students are referred to outside agencies for additional supports.

The program is about empowering the students to take responsibility for their actions in hopes they won't re-offend. It's designed to help them develop personal goals as well as healthy social skills. Since the two-year pilot project opened this September, 15 students from schools throughout the division have participated in the program. So far, there have been no re-offenders.

For more information, contact Superintendent Douglas Yeo at 1.780.645.3323 or e-mail

WILD ROSE SCHOOL DIVISION NO. 66 (Rocky Mountain House area)
ESTA – Exploring Strategies for Teaching and Assessment

School board invests in professional development
The Wild Rose School Division Board of Education decided the best way to improve student achievement was to invest in its teachers.

Believing that professional development had to be constructed in a new and innovative manner based on current educational research, the division developed the Exploring Strategies for Teaching and Assessment (ESTA) program in 2000-2001 to expand teaching and assessment skills so teachers could deliver new educational opportunities to students.

Since then, ESTA has evolved into a highly flexible program that allows teacher exploration into all facets of the learning cycle. Teachers work in partnerships or teams to develop projects, identifying time frames and the resources needed to complete them. Plans must include ways (written submissions or in-service workshops) of providing evidence of desired outcomes.

Teams are each given two days of release time to pursue projects and up to $200 to cover attendance at related conferences or workshops. Division professional development days have been designed to allow all school staff to attend particular workshops.

The ultimate goal of this project is to provide for a cultural change in the way Wild Rose School Division meets the educational needs of all learners. Teachers are pleased with program results and students suggest that a variety of teaching strategies allowing high student involvement increased their interest in the material being learned as well as their successes in attaining specified outcomes.

For more information, contact Superintendent J. Greg Thomas at 1.403.845.3376. or e-mail. View the project website.