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WES top notch, says Pembina Hills report

Westlock Elementary School has been identified as a highly effective school through the Pembina Hills school division’s (PHRD) regular school analysis program.
Hanna Nakonechny holds her team’s robot, Tribot, while Carli DeKoch looks on. The girls are members of Margaret Benham’s robotics club and were showcasing their
Hanna Nakonechny holds her team’s robot, Tribot, while Carli DeKoch looks on. The girls are members of Margaret Benham’s robotics club and were showcasing their work to Pembina Hills trustees at their Feb. 23 meeting at Westlock Elementary School.

Westlock Elementary School has been identified as a highly effective school through the Pembina Hills school division’s (PHRD) regular school analysis program.

Instructional services director Mark Thiesen presented the results of the division’s report to the board and the school’s administration at the PHRD board meeting Feb. 23 at WES.

Principal Terry Anderson said he was happy with the findings.

“We were extremely proud of the report and gratified, obviously,” he said. “I’ve been in schools many years and it’s probably the strongest report that I’ve been associated with.”

Every year, PHRD brass visit one or two schools to examine how each is performing, and in what areas need to improve. However, Thiesen stressed it’s not an evaluation in that the schools are graded, but rather it’s a way for schools to see how they can enhance their services.

In addition, it’s a very research-based approach.

“Essentially what we do is use the research of the more highly-effective schools in the country,” he said. “We compare our schools to the attributes of the most highly-effective schools in North America.”

What the evaluation found for WES was that the school already had many of those attributes, for which Thiesen commended administration.

Anderson agreed with the findings, saying he felt the report captured WES’s spirit and uncovered the reasons why the school is as strong and successful as it is.

He added it was “really rewarding for us” to have the review team pick up the sense of the school in the short time it was there.

He also said he appreciated the fact the analysis recognized the good work the school council has done in the past and how much it continues to do to enhance the learning experience and the school’s culture.

Although Thiesen’s presentation was heavy on the positives, there was still room for suggestions on how WES could improve.

“The purpose of the school review is to say ‘what kind of things can you tweak and do just a little better?’” he said.

From his perspective, Anderson said the suggestions the review team made are not examples of something WES is lacking.

“The suggestions for improvement are things that we’re constantly working on and we’re certainly aware of them,” he said.

He mentioned one example, that the school needs to identify and focus on only two priorities at a time.

“It’s something which we know we have to do,” he said. “We’re always trying to do too much.”

The point of the reviews, Thiesen said, is to provide the division’s schools with the right information to help them continuously get better. Due to the number of schools in the division, each one undergoes the same in-depth evaluation as WES every five to seven years.

“It gives the school this deep source of information from parents, staff, the community and kids about what they can do to improve,” he said.

This data can then be used and referred to when schools are compiling their annual plan.

Usually compiled by the administration team from the school to be evaluated the following year, the report looks at all aspects of the school in question.

However, “the biggest priority in this process is the learning, the assessment, the instruction: the pedagogy, the actual ‘what school’s all about,’” Thiesen said.

Since they have the opportunity, the review team will also examine a school’s operations and maintenance, transportation and finances, among other areas.

This is done because, although not as crucial to the success of the school, these areas are still very important.

Once the report has been completed, it will be placed in the school’s library and made available online, just like other educational planning documents, Thiesen said.

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