In their end of year letter, Board Chair Maya Russell and Superintendent Karim Hachlaf offered us all a highlight of some of the amazing learning opportunities that students and staff have participated in – highlights that spanned from some of our youngest learners to examples of what educators have been engaged in learning.

Here, in our annual “Good things are happening” review, we’ll delve deeper into those stories and more, as we look at how this district is continuing to work towards the goals laid out in our 5-year strategic plan: Our Learning Journey (Strategic Plan for 2019-2024).

We encourage you to take a scroll through this page to get a sense of the breadth of work and learning that’s happening in 91��ɫapps!

(You can also click these links to jump straight into the sections below …)

Learning highlights:

• Early learning
• Bringing lessons to life … stories from our classrooms
• Student success stories
• Staff learning and recognition

How we’re removing barriers

How we’re growing and adapting with our community … our capital project and review work

Learning highlights

Early learning

We’re continuing to grow our supports for our youngest learners. Early in 2023 we launched a pilot Just B4 Preschool program, out of StrongStart Centre in Queensborough. This program is designed to support kids in the year leading into kindergarten … setting them up for success as they get used to the structures and social skills that will help them transition more smoothly into their start at school.�� They even had a few chances to do activities alongside their “big buddies” (Queen Elizabeth Elementary’s kindergarten students) to help that transition along!

We were also able to double the size of our Seamless Day Pilot Program in 2022-23. Now supporting 24 kids at Qayqayt Elementary, this before-and-after school care program is helping ensure there’s a smoother transition through each day by having Early Childhood Educator staff in the morning stay to be an extra sets of hands in a kindergarten classroom, with other ECE staff coming in for the afternoon sessions and after-school care portions.

And while the Board of Education made some very challenging decisions, needed to prioritize the creation of new classroom spaces in two of our schools that are facing critical capacity restraints, we were successful in our work to attain the funding and approval needed to relocate the two day care centres to new sites with more room … ensuring we will continued to support New Westminster families through our partnerships with our local child care providers, while creating vital classroom space in neighbourhood schools that new enrolling families can count on. The newly designed and relocated 0-5 child care centres will open at Lord Tweedsmuir and FW Howay in Spring 2024.

Families can expect to see more from us in this coming year as we continue to pursue innovative new solutions that support our youngest learners and the families in our schools.

Bringing lessons to life

Learning happens every day, in every school, in a wide range of ways. Some of that involves the tried and true lessons that support the fundamentals: those literacy and numeracy goals we’re constantly evaluating and tracking. But some learning opportunities fall outside of those more traditional lessons.

Beebots create a buzz

Challenge accepted….can you get your Beebot to the small, green circle? ⁦⁩

— Stephanie Musgrove (@smusgrove2)

Take Beebots for example. These cute little robotic bees have created a real buzz in our kindergarten classrooms. They get kids excited about learning basic coding skills and students learn how to program them to move about the classroom. In fact, when Lord Kelvin’s Stephanie Musgrove posted the above video to her Twitter account, it sparked a local reporter to delve into how the deeper story: the joy and lessons of these little bots, and the way they feed into our district’s larger strategies around engaging kids in scaled lessons around technology.

(That full story can be read here if you have a free subscription to The New West Anchor: )

Salmonids bring learning to life

Lord Tweedsmuir teacher Jasper Liu was recognized this year for his long-standing work to bring learning (and salmon) to life … in particular, for his 15 year commitment to raising salmon in his classroom. It’s a little bit science, a little bit ecology and environmental studies, a little bit of a language lesson (as he uses the project to expand the vocabulary of his French-Immersion students), and a lot of fun for students who get to watch and care for their salmon buddies, before they say goodbye and release them.

You can learn more about how Jasper’s students benefit from this annual project here: /salmonids-bringing-learning-to-life-a-teacher-shoutout/

Green learning in the great outdoors

At Connaught Elementary, a commitment to outdoor and nature-based learning is a central part of their school learning plan. On Earth Day this year that took the shape of a school-wide “outdoor day of learning.” Kids rotated through stations that engaged them in stories, art, nature scavenger hunts and more.

These lessons built on months of similar work, and were also connected to a Eco-Fair the school hosted in the Spring. Jennifer Scorda, the principal of Connaught Heights Elementary, stressed that each of these pieces are part of a larger, ongoing process of building a relationship to nature and to the land. They are lessons inspired by the Indigenous Ways of Knowing, and driven by a passion in the community to take Climate Action seriously. And, they are lessons aimed at making sure each and every student knows that they have a role in helping shape the kind of present and future they want.

For more on this story: /green-learning-in-the-great-outdoors/

Glenbrook Middle’s Magical Mural

Art is so often at the heart of learning. A new mural at Glenbrook Middle is a great example of that. The mural is an interpretation of the newly updated logo, and it is called Xʷəsq̓eq̓íp (which is a Halkomelem word that means “Unity”). Not only does it add touches of creativity and colour to the building, but it is also a reflection of the effort to Indigenize the space, as the artwork combines colours, symbols, and motifs from different Indigenous people and cultures from across Canada. A visual representation of the land acknowledgement and the school community as a whole, it was important to the creation team that almost every student saw themselves reflected in it. That’s why almost all 6th and 7th grade students got to stencil their own passions into the mural.

Find out more about why students so proudly stop in front of this bit of magic here: /glenbrook-middles-magic-mural/

Connections across continents and culinary explorations

Learning through our schools happens outside of typical school hours too. Just ask Andrea, an International Education student from Italy who was here learning at NWSS. While other International Education students volunteered in the community by doing things like teaching elementary students origami, Andrea shared his passion for cooking by volunteering to support the Super Cooks program at Fraser River Middle: a six week after-school program run in partnership with Family Services of Greater Vancouver.

Bonding while making dishes like a Korean Lentil Stir-fry, kids in this community partnership program reminded us that there’s lots to learn when you can connect cultures and people around food:�� /connections-across-continents-and-culinary-explorations/

Student successes and stories

Our data story

We are constantly tracking student data: from test scores, to measures of well-being, and on to student completion rates. This data is analyzed internally, compared to provincial trends, and reviewed for where statistical changes or outside events (e.g. small sample sizes in particular years, shifts to online learning, etc) may impact the data being reviewed. All of this information helps us understand how well we’re doing and where we need to do more work, including where we may need to invest in new tools or training. This information is gathered and presented annually. Our most recent* reports can be found linked near the top of this page: /�����dzܳ�-�ܲ�/���𲹰��Ա��-���ܳ��������/��
*Due to data collection and analysis timelines, the collected reports reflect previous years’ data

Two New West schools shine at Reading Link Challenge
The Reading Link Challenge is an annual partnership between local public libraries and the schools around them, designed to promote an excitement for reading in kids. This year New West students swept two of the top three spots in this annual competition!

Skwo:wech Elementary’s Team Turtles slid into second, with Herbert Spencer’s Team Hurricane holding on to the third place in this hot competition! The grade 4 and 5 students spent months reading 6 novels, 2 or 3 times over to prepare, before competing against 950 teams (5,700 students from 5 districts)!

We’re exceptionally proud of all the students and staff who gave this reading competition their all, with some extra cheers being sent out to members of the two winning teams!

Rebel Monkeys promote local climate action initiatives��

The Monkey Rebels are a social justice club at��École Glenbrook Middle School: a group of students who care deeply about connecting community and making the world around them just a little bit better. And are they ever making a name for themselves!

In particular, they’ve done some high-profile promotion of the urban planning concept of a “15-minute city.” What is a 15-minute city? Essentially, it’s a city that’s designed to ensure that everything you would typically need to live is within a 15 minute walk or bike ride from your home … like grocery stores, places to work, access to health care or education, leisure spaces, etc. This model of urban planning is designed to help reduce people’s reliance on cars, by increasing the ability to live healthier, more walkable or bikeable, and more sustainable lives.

This Spring, after a lot of work (and a big dose of support from engaged community members around them), they successfully created, presented and got their motion passed through the City of New Westminster, calling on council to increase green spaces, improve sidewalks, add more bike racks and more.

Learn more about what inspired them and what they want to do next here: /glenbrooks-monkey-rebels-fighting-for-15-minute-cities/

The return of in-person events and celebrations

With the easing back of COVID related restrictions in the 2022-23 school year, that enabled us all to return to more rich learning experiences that inspired students and connected communities. Whether it was a production of Shrek the Musical (performed both by the students at Queensborough Middle, and as the Spring headliner at the Massey Theatre when NWSS students took over the stage with style), school-wide assemblies and cultural celebrations, the return of more tournaments and athletic events, or the Student Symposium to discuss educational experiences and budget priorities for the coming year … all of these in-person events helped enrich the experiences for students in our schools.

Staff learning and recognition

Award winning teaching, en français ��

Every year we have teachers and other educators recognized for the contributions they are making to student learning and the wider educational community around them. This year, that has included NWSS’s French Immersion teacher and languages Department Head, Rome Lavrencic, receiving the 2022 Robert Roy Award�� from the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers, in recognition of his significant contributions to the advancement of the second language education field. Félicitations Rome!

Science Ninjas: a not-so-secret guide to exciting learning

Who are the Science Ninjas? You know them as Darren Ng (NWSS), Samantha Dowdell (FRMS) and Victoria Yung (GMS). Together, they created and produced a three part video series that showcases their knowledge, talents, and passions (through the countless hours they’ve contributed to create these).

The video series is aimed at supporting their colleagues in bringing science alive in their classrooms. But a couple of their experiments might even be workable for those of you looking to add in some fun science at home on a slow weekend. And don’t forget to dance or sing along to the music videos that reinforce key science lessons for each experiment! More evidence to support the theory that arts and sciences can work together beautifully.

For learners of all ages, there’s the Slime Time lesson:
Slime Time experiment:
Slime time song:

For a bit of explosive learning that could be tried by some brave Science Ninjas-in-training:
Bottle rocket experiment (above):
Bottle rock-it song:

Now, don’t try this one at home … but it might still be fun to watch with your science inclined kids:
Flame bubbles experiment:
Water is a real good friend song:

If you want to read more about the people and ideas behind this series, take a few minutes to check out this feature story in the New West Record:

Removing barriers

Skwo:wech Mural: honouring the land and bringing hope to students

Not being seen IS a barrier. And that’s something we’re trying to change.

When it comes to supporting Indigenous Education and the Indigenous students and families in our community, it’s vital that we invest time and effort into Indigenizing our spaces. That’s why we were so proud to see the unveiling of a new mural at Skwo:wech Elementary – a colourful and beautiful piece by local artist Elinor Atkins – as one of the projects that took place in the district.

Given the name of the school, the sturgeon was a central part of the design. It is an animal that represents wisdom of the ancestors … and an animal Elinor has a number of connections to through her mother, through childhood memories with her family, and through her own artistic career (as the illustrator of the book “A magical sturgeon”). But at the celebration event for the new piece, Elinor also spoke to students and staff about the individual details of the new mural: the use of the Salish eye representing past and future generations, the importance of the river representing her home of Kwantlen, the flowers as symbols of happiness and hope, and the importance of the movement in the fish that speaks to how alive both the art and the land are.

For more on how the inspired students have been welcoming and reflecting on this beautiful new artwork, we invite you to read the full story here: /new-skwowech-mural-honouring-the-land-and-bringing-hope-to-students/

(And hot tip for the 2023-24 school year: watch for a beautiful new Skwo:wech school logo coming that Elinor also helped create!)

Affordability Fund

In response to rapid inflation and cost of living challenges, the provincial government recognized families (especially those with young or school-aged children) were facing financial challenges. They created a one time Student and Family Affordability Fund, distributing almost $700,000 to our district, intended to directly support students and help take the pressure off of families.

At 91��ɫapps we created a plan to ensure the money was equitably distributed and invested in ways that benefited all families, while also taking into consideration where some families in our community needed more support than others.

Our approach, and the allocated funding, was broken into three main categories of funding:

1. Universal Fees and Fundraising��(benefiting all families, determined school-by-school)
   Every family has been affected by inflation. That’s why each school consulted with their individual stakeholders as they determined how to allocate this portion of the funds at a school-based level. Some schools used it to cover school fees, some for field trips or annual activities that normally had fees attached, and others decided to distribute gift cards to support parents in purchasing student necessities.
2. Nutrition��(benefiting some families)
   We invested in our lunch and breakfast programs at our schools, to ensure that no student started or ended their school day feeling hungry and unprepared to learn.
3. Local customized supports��(benefiting individual families, determined on an as-needed basis)
   Each school was allocated funding to support the targeted needs of the individual students and families. Parents and guardians who felt pressured by recent spikes in inflation were encouraged to connect with their school principal to determine if there were supports that could benefit each child’s basic needs and well-being, as we worked to remove barriers and make sure every student feels ready and able to learn.

Indigenous Focused Professional Development

We can not teach what we do not understand. And understanding is as much a personal commitment as it is a professional one.

That’s why in the 2022-23 school year we saw teachers, CUPE staff members, administrators and district staff all fill the gym and hallways of NWSS … there to participate in the Indigenous Focused Professional Development Day.

The morning included a powerful lineup of local Indigenous leaders, who shared raw and poignant reflections on what it means to be Indigenous and living in systems that sometimes don’t see or support you. Later NWSS students swept attention of the full gym, as they participated in a Red Dress Fashion show that was designed by Linda Kay Peters, to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The afternoon workshops spanned from cultural teachings that could be incorporated into classroom activities, to discussions of the some of the structural changes required to address anti-Indigenous racism.

Meanwhile another group of staff spent the day touring the former St. Mary’s Residential School in Mission … absorbing the reality of the stark contrast of the kindergarten “classrooms” they saw, as they listened to the rich stories shared by their guide, Naxaxalhts’i Albert “Sonny” Jules McHalsie, the Cultural Advisor / Sxweyxwiyam (Historian) for the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre.

For more details on the day, the tour, and a look at the red dresses: /centred-in-unlearning-and-learning-indigenous-focused-pro-d/

Growing and adapting with our community

The Capital Work

As one of the fastest growing districts in both Metro-Vancouver and across BC, it’s no surprise that our district-based staff and our Board of Education have spent years heavily engaged in conversations about how to support growth in our community. Unlike some of the other faster growing districts, New Westminster also faces particularly challenging scenarios with the diversity of our geography and limited space available to support expansions and additions. But creativity, hard work and continued consultations with all our stakeholders saw important steps for us in the 2022-23 school year, as we look to the long-term solutions needed to support kids and families in our community.

Queen Elizabeth Elementary Expansion
This project is in what is called the “development permit application stage” … as we work alongside all our partners to address the multiple challenges of this complex site, as the expansion is designed to fit into what is a relatively small site, with geo-technical challenges that include its location within the Fraser River flood plain. While the district has been approved for the 13-classroom addition, we have requested a further addition of 8 classrooms due to the growing student population in Queensborough and are awaiting approval to this request.

This vital work that’s being done to support the Queensborough community is continuing to move forward, as we’re engaged in various studies and surveys that are required before we can achieve the final funding approval from the Ministry of Education and Child Care.

A new Fraser River Zone elementary school, at the Simcoe Campus
After much work to evaluate all options for a new elementary school in New Westminster, we were excited in the 2022-23 year to share our initial plans to have that school be placed on the Simcoe Park Campus (which currently also supports both Fraser River Middle School and the School Board Office). This project is currently in the Project Definition Report phases. If this ongoing work is successful, it will lead to the Ministry funding approval needed to build a new school. We’re excited about this project, as the proposed urban-style 600 seat elementary school will play a critical role in addressing the current significant capacity issues that are now impacting most of our elementary schools in the district.

Land acquisition, funding for a new middle school
Our projections and current enrolment numbers continue to show us that the growth we’re experiencing, most significantly at lower grades, is also being experienced at our middle schools. Currently both Fraser River Middle and Ecole Glenbrook Middle are already facing capacity issues that we’re working hard to create short-term solutions for. But we need longer-term solutions too.

In the 22-23 school year we were approved to move forward on land acquisition to support a new middle school. The District is targeting ��the West End to geographically spread middle schools to support neighbourhood school learning environments. This is an important step forward as we do the critical work to establish long term solutions to support the expanding needs of students and families who are moving into our city and up through our schools.

The Long-Range Facilities Plan (91��ɫapp)
While historically revised on a 5 year schedule, we have been refreshing our 91��ɫapp every 18-24 months to ensure we are capturing the continued growth in our community, putting forward requests to the ministry that keep pace with ongoing development. In collaboration with consultants, industry experts, and local stakeholders, this plan has been revised through the Spring and will be presented in the Fall of 2023 to inform the community of our future plans.

Interested in understanding all that goes into this work? Watch for links to the document to be shared, and an invitation to attend information sessions that will follow soon.��

Programs of Choice Review

One of the many projects our district engaged in through the 2022-23 school year was a review of some of our Programs of Choice, specifically the French Immersion (early, late and secondary), Montessori and the Home Learners programs. The educational review will allow us to gain insight into the strengths, the gaps and the future opportunities, as we look to best serve the current and future needs of this growing and evolving community.

In Fall 2023 the consultant, who has led this work, will provide the district a report that will be focused on improving practice, guided by research and multiple levels of stakeholder engagement. From there senior Learning Team members will present informed recommendations that build on the programs’ strengths, and recommendations to capitalize on where there are opportunities for improvements.

Goodbye old friend

Creation and destruction come hand in hand. Following the move from the old New Westminster Secondary School�� into the new building, there was then over a year of very careful removal of equipment, remediation processes and other preparation for demolition. The work to deconstruct, recycle and remove the old buildings will continue through the coming year, as we slowly say goodbye to this old New Westminster landmark.

(Click through to our below to view more photos of the demolition.)

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Every year we build a path that’s founded on each year and each effort before. As we look to 2023-24 we know there is a lot of work ahead of us, but, there’s opportunity in that work and we’re excited to take that on … alongside students, staff, families and all the members of our wider community.

Please note, students in grades 10 to 12 will continue to use letter grades and percentages.

This new policy includes a greater emphasis on student self-assessment of the Core Competencies and personal goal setting for student success.

The Ministry has created a website portal to help support parents in understanding the new assessment goals and scale, including providing detailed information in a number of languages.

Below we have shared the shortened brochure, but more information, a detailed video guide, and answers to all your questions are available here:

Or download this file here: /wp-content/uploads/2023/08/K-12-student-reporting-one-pager-for-parents-and-caregivers.pdf

That’s why a recent professional day saw teachers, CUPE staff members, administrators and district staff all fill the gym and hallways of NWSS … there to participate in the Indigenous Focussed Professional Development Day that was hosted and organized by 91��ɫapps’ Indigenous Education staff and the District leadership team.

It was a powerful day, as Indigenous leaders and community members shared their reflections, hopes, cultural teachings and some hard but important truths with all who gathered together.

To set the tone for the day, there was a welcome and some reflections by Chief Rhonda Larrabee, and drumming and prayer by elder Glen Williams.

Superintendent Karim Hachlaf took advantage of the rare gathering of so many staff to share some thoughts about work that has been done, and about the work ahead that we’ll all need to be part of as we look forward. Then he passed the stage back to the day’s MC, Connie Swan, the District Vice Principal for Indigenous Education.

Connie then introduced the first of two keynote speakers for the day: Dr. Gwen Point. Dr. Point took the time to talk about the critical need to embed Indigenous Knowledge into curriculum. She shared stories about powerful conversations and the many reasons why it was so important to share and teach Indigenous languages and practices across all cultures. She talked about her own struggles that she’d faced. And she talked about the generations of students who desperately need to see Indigenous knowledge shared and valued, now.

Despite having to deliver her speech virtually, her moving words inspired elder Glen Williams to spontaneously honour her and her work with song, in a powerful moment of appreciation before a brief break (a break inclusive of a delicious table full of fried bannock).

Then came the second key note speaker: the Honourable Stephen Point. With heart and passion he shared his lessons through story. He talked about a smart young student who was doing good work, but still failing because he couldn’t bring himself to hand in his completed assignments … struggling with his sense of self-worth and a system that didn’t seem to see or care for him. Mr. Point reflected that this young man was not alone in feeling that way. He connected to all of us in the room with laughter, while landing the solemn understanding of how vital (and how often absent) connection can feel for Indigenous students and their families.

Then Indigenous students from NWSS took over the stage. Young, powerful women, participating in a mini-fashion show to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). And while the designer, Linda Kay Peters, was unable to come, her cousin stood in her place. She talked about the importance of the red dresses, the realities faced by loved ones of MMIWG, and she outlined the intricate symbolism that was pictured in the tipi dress in particular. (See more photos below.)

The afternoon was filled with individually selected workshops, with staff engaging in sessions discussing the importance of disrupting Indigenous specific racism, to sessions about everything from cedar weaving to working with Indigenous plants and medicines to make medicine pouches.

40 staff members missed all these activities, as they instead had been selected to attend a fieldtrip to Mission, to participate in a profoundly moving tour of the former St. Mary’s Residential School.

Led by Naxaxalhts’i Albert “Sonny” Jules McHalsie, the Cultural Advisor / Sxweyxwiyam (Historian) for the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre, 91��ɫapps staff toured the institutional space and the grounds around it. They absorbed Sonny’s recounted tales of how his family experienced walking into those stark kindergarten “classrooms” of the residential schools … such a contrast to the warm and welcoming spaces we know now. The group of staff took in the cultural teachings he shared, sometimes seemingly frozen in space as the historical realities and their generational legacies felt just a little extra real in that space.

There were lessons and take away moments for all our staff at this Indigenous Focused Professional Development Day. Some of them were personal: stories and anecdotes that painted the divide and continued need to work towards reconciliation. Some of the learning will connect directly into classroom lessons for students across the district.

Together, as we walk into National Indigenous History Month in June (with National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21st), we do so a little further along our journey than we were the year before. There is generational trauma and history to learn more about, and generations of healing to be part of. There is rich culture to learn more from, and lessons we need to teach more.

We do this the only way we can, together.

This Earth Day (and this year), the dedicated staff at Connaught Heights Elementary have worked to ensure outdoor and nature-based learning is a fundamental part of each child’s education – no matter how a student learns.

Celebrating our environment

On the Friday before Earth Day, kids arrived at school as usual … but soon their day transformed into an interactive outdoor learning adventure. Teachers had prepared multiple unique and varied stations throughout the school, some indoors and others sprawling into the surrounding gardens.

These stations each had their own specific learning activity, all of them related to nature. The goal? To help kids develop a deeper understanding of and relationship to the plants and animals that fill the world around them.

Community was also a very central focus, as teachers stressed the importance of working together to change our world for the better.

At one station, the kids were paired up for a scavenger hunt around the school’s central courtyard. Youngsters poked their heads around trees and posts, looking for spider-homes and beautiful flowers. Part of their job was to make detailed observations as they searched��– teaching the importance of word choice and vocabulary!

At another station, students got to highlight their artistic side. They pressed flowers onto card stock, creating pretty handmade cards using the plants … introducing how versatile plants can be!

A third station saw students gathered in the gymnasium to learn about climate change through science experiments. Demonstrations were done by teachers, with explanations that connected the scientific concepts to the ways our climate is changing.

These are just a handful of the diverse activities the kids cycled through for this Earth Day!

A year in the making

These outdoor lessons are born from a year-long coordinated effort by Connaught Heights’ staff. Earth Day itself has been planned for weeks, if not months, but these lessons have built on what students have also slowly and continuously been introduced to throughout the year, and through their lessons around the garden. In fact, teachers have been holding gratitude circles and storytime outside since the start of the school year, as one way to help achieve their school learning plan goals.

Climate action has also been an integral theme throughout the school year. Teachers have been encouraging and supporting students to be stewards of their environment – lessons students have eagerly taken on and a passion that’s clearly reflected in their own interests. Throughout the year students have learned how to incorporate eco-friendly choices into their day-to-day actions, with families participating and supporting however possible.

As their Earth Day celebrations came to a close, the whole of Connaught Heights Elementary gathered in the gym to recount the lessons shared this year, to give thanks to all participating students and families, and to honour their movement to greener learning.

Looking to the future

But the passion for all things green doesn’t end with Earth Day.

On April 28th, between 3:00 and 5:00 pm, the kids will hold a student-organized Eco-Fair … selling handmade goodies from the community, with some even made by students! All the items will be made from repurposed materials with proceeds going to a local non-profit!

This event is open to the whole community, so we hope to see you there!

Jennifer Scorda, the principal of Connaught Heights Elementary, stressed that each of these pieces are part of a larger, ongoing process of building a relationship to nature and to the land. They are lessons inspired by the Indigenous Ways of Knowing, and driven by a passion in the community to take Climate Action seriously. They are lessons aimed at making sure each and every student knows that they have a role in helping shape the kind of present and future they want.

That theme of connection and empowerment was perhaps most quintessentially represented in a station that was run by our district’s Manager of Early Education and Childcare, Ileana Neilson. Students sat under a tree with Ileana as they read a book about protecting the world for themselves, and for future generations … reflecting on the cyclical nature of that relationship as the tree protected them from the rain�� falling around them (rain that could not dampen their bright green spirits).

Melanie is a recent addition to the leadership team at 91��ɫapps, and, having started in August, she’s stepping in to deliver on a new role that was created to help bring together a few portfolios that were previously supported by a combination of others. As a liaison to many inside and outside of the District, she’s supporting the critical work of making students and staff feel safer in our schools, with an important focus on preventative education too.

With a background as a teacher, a counsellor in both school and private practice, and with experience working as part of Critical Incidents Response Teams in Burnaby, she’s well-positioned to take on the multifaceted work she’s started doing here.

Every day looks a little different, when it comes to creating safer and more caring schools. But at any time you could find Melanie doing one of the following things:

• Arranging workshops and pulling together resources to support students and staff around issues they’ve identified as impacting their physical or mental wellbeing, as her office is positioned within the Wellness Centre at NWSS.
• Connecting resources from the Community and Wellness Centre with students at the middle schools and high school – to provide everything from individual supports for students to group presentations on bigger topics.
• In non-emergency cases, she’s the District’s main connection point to the New Westminster Police … as she liaises with their officers to partner on issues or cases where police are needed to support students or staff.
• When needed, she’s one of the core members of the District’s Critical Incident Response Team, coordinating community resources and supports to events that may be impact students (e.g. in the event where there may be a public loss within a community, or an incident that might trigger the need for wider emotional supports to be put in place).
• She’s also involved in driving the Violent Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) process, collaborating with Ministry, stakeholder or community partners to help prevent events, to protect kids at risk, and to help support kids who are struggling with issues that might have them considering lashing out or acting on threats, before it may happen.

One of the other things Melanie is proud to be doing is supporting students who have stepped forward with issues they’re passionate about. Included in that has been working alongside the NWSS student members of SEAS (Safety, Education, Advocacy and Support group) to address the gender-based harassment concerns they’ve shared. “There is a group of students who were feeling unsafe and feeling like consent has not been at the forefront of what is typically being taught, and they’ve asked us in New West to step up and be leaders in this bigger issue,” said Melanie. “We’re responding to that by making sure that we have robust consent education in place here, as we continue to work to address the issues impacting students and their sense of safety. That means providing educational opportunities now that can help improve their experiences while they are here learning, and when they are interacting with each other out in the community.”

Essentially, if it makes kids feel safer in their learning environment, Melanie is likely involved. But she’s the first to point out that she’s not doing it alone.

Given the nature of this role, Melanie has a large network she connects with to fulfill on these various overlapping portfolios. She is regularly working alongside other district staff (including, in particular, the District VP for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-racism), the whole Wellness Centre team and connected community partners, staff at all levels of every school, community organizations, Ministry services and more. She’s busy evaluating each situation and issue to help determine how our available resources can help improve the lives of students and staff.

“Everything that I do centres around making students and staff feel safe and feel like they have access to a safe working environment, a safe learning environment,” she said as she reflected on why she feels this role is so valuable.�� “We want everyone to be learning and working in spaces that feel welcoming, caring and just supportive of who they are as individuals. I think that’s really, really important.”

It’s a big role that Melanie is working on and we’re so glad to have her as part of the leadership team doing this work!

On a cold and crisp winter day, students at Skwo:wech Elementary were slowly drummed into the gymnasium to gather in the round, to share appreciation and questions about a new art piece that’s adding brightness and hope to their school.

This event was a celebration of the new mural by local artist Elinor Atkins (whose traditional name is Miməwqθelət).

The students and guests who gathered came to celebrate the installation of the new mural, and to thank the artist as she shared her reflections on what the piece meant to her.

Given the name of the school, the sturgeon was a central part of the design. It is an animal that represents wisdom of the ancestors … and an animal Elinor has a number of connections to through her mother, through childhood memories with her family, and through her own artistic career (as the illustrator of the book “A magical sturgeon”). But Elinor also spoke to the individual details of the new mural: the use of the Salish eye representing past and future generations, the importance of the river representing her home of Kwantlen, the flowers as symbols of happiness and hope, and the importance of the movement in the fish that speaks to how alive both the art and the land are.

Students from different divisions took turns standing up to share their reflections of the new mural, and the thoughts it evoked for them … they talked about feeling a sense of calm and happiness when looking at it, they imagined hearing bees buzz and a wind through the trees, and they reflected on how the light and positioning of the mural made it feel like a stained glass window that brought the outside world in.

Elinor also patiently took questions from students who were curious about her inspiration, who wanted to know more about her process to get to the final piece and inspired the young creators who questioned how she had landed in her career as an artist.

This piece was commissioned as a continuation of the journey toward reconciliation that we are taking together, and part of our related district-wide efforts to indigenize our spaces. Guided by a committee of school staff, district staff and engaged community members (including Indigenous rightsholders), submissions were received from a number of local artists, each asked to outline how their mural could weave a story of connections between the land, the Fraser River and the sky above … a goal and vision that Elinor so clearly was able to achieve.

We raise our collective hands to thanks to Elinor for all her work and time to create this first piece, in what has become a series of pieces she has honoured us with. The below mural has just been added to the Welcome Centre, with another to come soon within New Westminster Secondary School!

Interested in seeing more work by Elinor Atkins? Follow her on Instagram here:

In the 2022-23 school year, here are some of the health and safety protocols and expectations that will continue to keep our schools as safe as possible:

• Each day parents and caregivers are responsible for assessing the health of any student who will be attending school. Every staff member is also responsible for assessing their health before entering a school building or other district site. Anyone who has new or worsening symptoms is expect to follow the guidelines provided by , or that of a�� health provider, on whether or not a COVID test is required and what to do next.
• Do not attend school or work if you are sick.
• Mask wearing will continue to be supported as a personal choice. Disposable masks will continue to be available at each site for those who need or want one.
• Our ventilation systems at each site will continue to be run at maximum capacity, with filters changed at the regular and recommended intervals. (See below for ventilation system overviews.)
• Each portable in the district has been equipped with a portable HEPA filter unit.
• Hand washing and/or hand sanitizing stations are available at each site, including in portables.

Throughout the year we will continue to monitor the evolving health and safety conditions, adapting as recommendations shift and require revisions.

As updates are made to the Communicable Disease Plan, we will share the latest versions of the plan here: 91��ɫapps Communicable Disease Plan – 4.1
(Version 4.1 was updated November 24, 2022)

Ventilation

Our Facilities team has been working exceptionally hard to make sure our schools are maximizing our systems at each site. Here are some things to know about ventilation in New Westminster schools:

• Thanks to the newer construction of many of our New Westminster schools, in collaboration with proactive years of upgrades to others, we are meeting or exceeding the recommended standards wherever possible.
• All filters – at every school and site – are replaced on a regular schedule throughout the year.
• Our Facilities team has ensured that we continue to run our ventilation at full capacity, as we maximize the circulation of clean air at each school.
• And we have added portable HEPA filter units to every portable in the District.

Below are overviews of the ventilation systems that are currently supporting each school and site. Where there may be changes or upgrades to the overall systems or capacity, these will be updated.

Elementary Schools:

• Ventilation System Overview – Connaught Heights Elementary
• Ventilation System Overview – FW Howay Elementary
• Ventilation System Overview – Herbert Spencer Elementary
• Ventilation System Overview – Lord Kelvin Elementary
• Ventilation System Overview – Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary
• Ventilation System Overview – Qayqayt Elementary
• Ventilation System Overview – Queen Elizabeth Elementary
• Ventilation System Overview – Skwo:wech Elementary

Middle Schools:

• Ventilation System Overview – Fraser River Middle
• Ventilation System Overview – Glenbrook Middle
• Ventilation System Overview – Queensborough Middle

Secondary School:

• Ventilation System Overview – New Westminster Secondary

Other sites:

• Ventilation System Overview – Hume Park Learning Centre
• Ventilation System Overview – MIT Building (Maintenance & IT)
• Ventilation System Overview – School Board Office
• Ventilation System Overview – Columbia Square Learning Centre

Should you have further questions about ventilation, please contact our Maintenance team at:��maintenance@sd40.bc.ca

The year started under continued measures that helped support keeping students and staff as safe as possible. While we diligently applied protocols and prepared for the worst, we were so thankful for the way the community, students and staff worked together to follow recommendations and keep each other as healthy as possible – staving off functional closures and challenges faced in some other communities.

We were able to formally celebrate the opening and first full year of the New Westminster Secondary School, we finished and moved into the new Skwo:wech Elementary, and we were given approval for an over $20 million dollar, 13 classroom expansion to Queen Elizabeth Elementary!

Enrolment has continued to surpass all previous projections, and we have worked hard to increase staffing and address the complex demands that our growth is putting on our district, on our schools and staff, and on families. It’s groundwork we’ll continue to be working on through much of this coming year, on many fronts.

And while these structural and capital needs continue to be both monumental and urgent, the most exciting moments happened in our classrooms and other learning spaces.

There were learning collaborations across multiple schools, and individual classes of young kids who got to go on their first field trips. There was a return to school-wide cultural celebrations, and individual moments where students and staff were recognized for their hard work and achievements. There were exciting changes that will support the health and wellbeing of our community and so much more.

The achievements of the 2021-22 school year were impressive, and they are laying groundwork for years ahead. Here are some of the highlights …��

What we’ve built

Opening of the Welcome and Wellness Centres
In the fall of 2021 we celebrated the formal opening of the Welcome Centre: home to our Central Registration team, a city funded Community Navigator, the Qayqayt First Nation office, settlement services offered by MOSAIC, and additional space that’s available to host events from a wide range our partner organizations. This community hub serves and supports everyone who is new or wanting to feel better connected in New Westminster.
Find out more about the services and activities at The Welcome Centre: /programs-services/family-and-community/welcome-centre/

In the spring we then celebrated the formal opening of the neighbouring Wellness Centre: a community hub that is allowing us to support and promote healthy living, in a way that’s centred around connection and care for students and families in New Westminster. Students, staff and the community can all access a range of mental health services and bereavement care, and targeted workshops and sessions to support health and well being. In the Fall of 2022 we’re excited to be extending the services available at The Wellness Centre, as a partnership with Fraser Health, with the addition of access primary care and community health supports.
Find out more about our partners and the growing list of supports at The Wellness Centre: /programs-services/family-and-community/wellness-centre/

Seamless Day child care
The Seamless Day child care pilot program opened at Qayqayt Elementary this year: offering before and after school care, with the collaboration of two ECE (Early Childhood Education) trained staff, who stayed through the day to also support kids in their classroom. The three year pilot program is offering child care spaces for 12 kindergarten and grade 1 students … part of the over 100 new spaces we helped create over the 2021-22 school year. Read more about the Seamless Day pilot here: /seamless-day-child-care-in-new-westminster-schools/

The open of the new Skwo:wech Elementary
We were so proud to open the replacement school for Skwo:wech Elementary this Spring. The beautiful new school showcases collaborative learning spaces, is filled with glass and light that helps make learning more visible, and also showcases some of the best views in New Westminster!

Interested in learning more about school (and the new name)? There are pictures and more available from the ribbon cutting event in June of 2022!

Queen Elizabeth expansion project
With formal approval from the Ministry to develop concept plans, our capital teams have been working hard to push the proposed 13 classroom expansion to Queen Elizabeth Elementary School forward. With school and community consultations hosted in June, we’re excited to continue to work toward developing the plan and securing the final funding approval needed to build this required expansion that will support the Queensborough community.

What we’ve learned

The Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) report
As a continuation of work that had started the previous year, late in 2021 Bakau Consulting presented the results of the review we engaged them to do. Informed by internal and external surveys, focus groups and a review of key internal documents and tools, the final document, a gap analysis, provides insights of the opportunities we can build from, challenges that need addressing, and includes a list of key recommendations to support the anti-racism work we’ve committed to take on.

We’ve created a short summary of the key findings and of the path ahead that you can find here: /understanding-and-opportunities-the-diversity-and-inclusion-review/

Internally, we’ve started the process of acting on the recommendations, and you’ll see much more to come as our new District Vice-Principal for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion steps in to help lead this work.

Physical Literacy
According to a 2020 ParticipACTION report card, only 39% of Canadian kids (5-17) are getting the 60 minutes of heart-pumping physical activity they need each day to be healthy. To help combat that, our District has launched a new program to support teachers in getting kids moving through the day: our Physical Literacy program that is run by a small group of our District and school-based staff. With tool boxes of supplies, two facilitators have been travelling school to school to get kids moving in all kinds of new ways: /physical-literacy-getting-kids-moving/

Orange Shirt Week
In September of 2021 we honoured the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, within the larger honouring of Orange Shirt Week (an extension of Orange Shirt Day that was brought in by our Board of Education to create more space for learning).

At every level of the district, and at every single school there were powerful lessons and moments shared – from art projects that taught about the legacy of residential schools (particular projects that honoured the 215 children who died and were found in a mass grave burial site at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School), to important and very local learnings as Chief Rhonda Larrabee talked to middle school students about the history and current work of the Qayqayt First Nation.

See more about what those lessons looked like at every school here: /learning-at-the-centre-of-orange-shirt-week/��

Climate action in action
The journey towards sustainability can be measured by a range of climate action initiatives. We’re exceptionally proud of the steps our capital and maintenance teams have played a role in that: from new builds that are LEED compliant, to the proactive work to upgrade schools in ways that help reduce emissions. (Some of this work was recently featured in The Record:

At every school in our district there are many amazing examples of how educators are working hard to get kids learning about and engaged in Climate Action initiatives: from the community gardens kids are tending at our schools to the bees hives atop NWSS, or on to initiatives like the Turn Down the Heat Challenge … there’s a lot happening through the Green Teams at each school.

In 2021-22 we went to Connaught Heights Elementary to see how Mrs. Wong’s excited kindies were partnering with Ms. Amy’s grade 5 “big buddies” to do good together. We encourage you to take a few minutes to read about how the wild flower gardens, squiggling worms of the compost buckets and joint clean up efforts are inspiring kids to care and feel empowered to help make climate change happen: /climate-action-in-action/

A return to field trips: Howay’s salmon release at Hume Park

As COVID related restrictions eased with the changing conditions in the Spring, we saw an exciting return to fieldtrips. And for some young learners, it even meant they had the opportunity to experience their first ever school field trips!

Students from FW Howay took to Hume Park to release the young salmon fry they had been caring for in their classroom. Rotating through various nature based stations, students eagerly awaited their turn to venture into the shallow sections of the Brunette River and release the fry, one cup at a time, into the water (assisted by their teacher, with Ms. Roz drumming and singing along as each salmon was released).

Drum Birthing
It started with the collective reading of “When We Play Our Drums” … every student, at each of the three middle schools, read and discussed this same book together. It featured a young boy who was angry about losing his culture, but through deep conversations with an elder he found that understanding the past was the best way to help change the future.

From there this cross-school project then offered Indigenous identifying students the opportunity to extended the culture teachings through the experience of learning to build their own drums. This powerful cultural lesson also included a beautiful and moving drum birthing ceremony. To learn more about the process and see the stages of the birthing, you can read more here: /the-beat-and-birth-of-a-drum/

What we’ve celebrated

Inclusive Education art show
A first of its kind, this year NWSS students participated in a cross-district art show, crafting and displaying their creations alongside their peers from both the Vancouver and Burnaby school districts. The event, “Celebrating the Student Artists: Building A Better Tomorrow Through Art,” took place at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre in Yaletown, including a semi-formal evening showcase to accompany the week-long show.

Three staff stand outs
There are a million ways to measure the incredible contributions of our staff. Awards is only one of those ways. This year we had three members of our staff community recognized in various ways … a teacher-librarian, an education assistant and a youth worker: /three-staff-standouts/

Receiving our Living Wage Employer certification
An idea that was proposed in a 2019 Board of Education meeting became a reality in the spring of 2022: 91��ɫapps has officially been certified as a Living Wage Employer! This means that every employee in our district is earning a minimum of a living wage, which in

As Executive Director of HR Robert Weston noted during the process, this designation does not affect our budgets or contracts, as the bulk of our employees earn well above that amount. But as Trustee Mark Gifford commented on, “It’s a great signal for the district to be sending. It recognizes the importance of a living wage for families.”

Historic agreement supports Indigenous staff
In a move pre-approved by the BC Human Rights Commission, 91��ɫapps and the New Westminster Teachers’ Union (NWTU) have entered into an exciting new agreement: one aimed at hiring and supporting staff who self-identify as Indigenous. This agreement between the two bodies will allow the District to give preference to Indigenous teachers when hiring and promoting our staff, as we work together to ensure our employees are more representative of the students and families we support in this community.

Innovation Fair
On June 2nd we invited district staff, students and parents to join our Innovation Fair … the final celebration and showcasing of 20 projects that were pitched by groups of educators at the beginning of the school year. Each group received a portion of the $50,000 pot, with allocations based on the project needs and priority alignment. The results ranged in innovative new learning opportunities that engaged learners at every one of our schools – from comicstrip design software that let students turn social studies lessons into political cartoons, to funding that supported the “Between the lines” NWSS Literary Festival and so much more. You can read more about the Innovation Grants and projects here:�� /innovation-fair-funding-new-learning-ideas/

Return of the Qayqayt Rite of Passage Ceremony

After a few years of COVID related cancellations, we welcomed the opportunity in the spring to return to year end celebrations to honour students and staff – from graduation ceremonies to retirement dinners.

Awards and community recognition is another.

And while we could create a very long list of people we feel are deserving of awards around here, we wanted to feature three members of our community who have been recognized this year for all they’re doing.

Jenny Chang – NWSS Librarian

Jenny Chang took on an important role at NWSS over the last two years: transitioning a long-standing catalogue of books and learning tools from the old school, and setting up the brand new Learning Commons space at the beautiful new secondary school.

This year Jenny was named the BC New Teacher-Librarian of the Year, as awarded by the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association.

And, as she’s currently steering an update to some of the online tools the library is using, we know there’s lots to come from her as we look forward!

Jessica Lambert – Educational Assistant at Skwo:wech Elementary

The difference Jessica is making in the lives of her students and peers got a very public nod this year. Jessica was nominated for her leadership and contributions to the school through CTV’s “Community Coffee Break” segment … winning the staff at the school a lovely addition to the staff room, and having a short moment on screen as she accepted the honour and prizes.

You can watch that moment here:

We love seeing people like Jessica be recognized for the hard work and care she puts into her school community.

Tina Smith – Youth Care Worker at Glenbrook Middle School

Tina Smith’s contributions to her students and school community were recognized at the New West Youth Services’ Youth Awards this year, under the “Adult Ally” category.

She works hard to support students in those pivotal and transitional middle school years, and we know she’s a valued member of the Glenbrook Middle School community and of our district!

This project was a collaboration across the leadership at all three middle schools, and involved all learners at all grade levels.

For most students, it was the collective reading of one shared story: When We Play Our Drums, They Sing, by Richard Van Camp. The book tells the story of 12 year old Dene Cho, a boy who is angry that his people are losing their culture. But through a conversation with an elder, he learns more about the impact of residential schools, and he begins to find himself. And he begins to realize that understanding the past can help change the future.

Each student and each class reflected on this story in different ways.

Where this project got additionally interesting is where it expanded out to offer Indigenous identifying students an opportunity to build on the cultural teachings and experiences that were touched on in the reading.

The three schools pooled and shared resources (with QMS students joining those at GMS) to learn about and each make their own drum … with hands-on lessons from delivered by Roslyn Smith and supported by Lee Laufer, Jasmine Tannahill, Danielle Smith and Orlena Ferguson. The team worked to teach students how to stretch elk skin over the round frames and use the artificial sinew to pull tension and tie the drums.

On May 19th the participating students from Queensborough Middle and Fraser River Middle gathered alongside the Glenbrook Middle School students for a drum birthing ceremony, under the lead of Ms. Roz and with support from other members of the Indigenous Education Team … also with administrators, District staff and Stacey Ferguson – representing the Qayqayt First Nation – there to�� witness and support the ceremony.

The drums were distributed to students sitting around the circle created in the middle of the gym. Students held their creations while they heard teachings about why drums needed to be rebirthed before they could be played … the process of bringing life back to the living elements they had been created from. Ms. Roz drew connections to the beat of the drum and the first rhythm we each hear: of the heartbeat of a mother that a baby hears in the womb.

And then the more formal portion of the ceremony began…

A smudge to cleanse the bad energy away, with medicines to also invite the good in.

Next the umbilical cords were snipped down to length … a reflection of that connection to womb and the birthing process.

Then a small pinch of tobacco was placed on each drum, so that as Ms. Roz circled the root to beat the heartbeat into each drum, the surfaces danced as the vibration was passed from one to the next.

Each student carefully collected their small pile of tobacco and took it out to find a patch of soil … thanking the creator (however each student defined that), as they returned the medicine to the land.

These ceremonial steps were completed one stage at a time, each student waiting patiently as the circles of the room were completed … a process that included the drums taking up empty chairs to ensure that even those who couldn’t attend the day would have their drums birthed.

And, finally it was time to play … to hear the sounds of each drum’s echo and practice together, with Ms. Roz leading them through songs and rhythms as they tested out their newly birthed creations.

What was easy to see was this: there was pride and excitement on the faces of many of those students as they looked around at each other and shared the occasional whisper and smile.

That was one of the other goals that Chris Evans (hosting Principal at the GMS birthing ceremony) spoke to as the day came to a close: that this project was also intended to create connections for Indigenous students in the District … an opportunity for each student there to hopefully have at least one more familiar face at NWSS, when it was time for them to�� transition to the secondary school.

And on that note, with some extra tips on how to care for or later potentially decorate their new drums, students headed back to their schools and classrooms … owners of new drums and a little more connected through culture and the shared experience.