The three schools in Westlock were abuzz with activity last week as teachers and administrators prepared to get back into the swing.
The principals of R.F. Staples, St. Mary and Westlock Elementary schools are all looking forward to the coming year with anticipation of keeping up the good work and, in some cases, trying a few new things.
Principal Pierre Ouimet is settling in to his roll as principal at the region’s only public high school, and said while he doesn’t anticipate making any major changes there are a few things he hopes to see done differently this year.
One of the big things coming down the pipe is the beginning of Cycle 5 of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvements (AISI), a government-funded professional development program. The focus for this current three-year cycle will be inclusive education — teaching to ensure all students get instruction that meets their needs, regardless of their ability levels.
“That’s kind of a big deal when it comes to professional development and professional growth in schools,” he said.
Ouimet said he also hopes to see improved communication between the school and parents. One strategy to achieve that goal is a monthly newsletter that will be published in the Westlock News, which will include a calendar and highlights for each month.
The second part of that is working to raise the profile of the school council — a group of parents working with administration to address issues in the school — within the school community.
Specific strategies to achieve this include setting up a kiosk during the annual parent-teacher interviews, putting up a school council notice board in a high-traffic location in the school and having school council representatives attend the Grade 7 and Grade 10 orientation nights.
As for the students, Ouimet said he’d like to see more activities that will bring the entire school together — both the junior high and high school.
“I’d like to do a couple little events, to bring everyone together even if it’s for something as simple as a hot dog and a juice box,” he said.
New principal Sheila Glebe says she’s excited to be sitting in the big corner office, coming full circle in the school from which she graduated.
One of the more exciting things coming up this year, she said, is a planned international education trip. “We’re hoping to take kids to Poland, to the concentration camps, the Jewish Quarter and Schindler’s Factory,” she said. “We have to get enough students interested, but it’s a tremendous opportunity and of course it’s tied directly to the high-school social studies curriculum.”
Glebe said she’s also pleased to see students from St. Mary taking part in the Registered Apprenticeship Program, which lets students begin to learn a trade while they’re still in school. One student has already signed up to begin a hairdressing apprenticeship.
At the elementary level, students in grades 4 to 6 will have the opportunity to do a Lego-based robotics program. She said the first year would most likely be a learning year, but she anticipates entering the annual competition at NAIT in due course.
Glebe also said the school is putting an emphasis on professional development to address 21st-century learning — helping teachers to help student get prepared for jobs that might not even exist yet — with the addition of a learning coach.
“They’re dedicated to helping teachers develop the kinds of skills we need in order of best meet the needs of students in the school,” she said.
Principal Steven Kaplan, while in his first year in Westlock, is no stranger to heading up a school community, having been principal at Dunstable School last year.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be here,” he said.
His focus this year will have more to do with learning how things work within the school, which he said is already well established and well supported within the community. The most exciting change, he said, is seeing a new cohort of 80 Kindergarten students joining the school.
He added that like other local schools, he and the WES staff will focus on the AISI Cycle 5, with a focus on including all students of all ability levels within the instructional approach.
As for any changes he would like to see, Kaplan said he simply wants to keep up the good work he has seen from his predecessors.
“Knowing that this school is well-established and high-functioning, there’s really no need for me to come in here with an agenda of my own,” he said. “My first and foremost priority is to become part of the learning community and as time goes on, I want to find out how I can contribute to it.”
