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Greater Essex County Di School Board:
Improving outcomes for stud building strong community p
Director of the Greater Essex County District School Board discusses what makes their school district unique and how comprehensive education when community partners are a Written by: Lindsey Ryan
Produced by: James Gilligan
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dents by partnerships.
d, Erin Kelly, w students get a more actively involved.
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G R E AT E R E S S E X C O U N T Y D I S T R I C T S C H O O L B O A R D
Reading to Early Years students at John Campbell PS
The Greater Essex County District School Board serves Windsor and Essex County with approximately 4500 staff members for 35,000 students. The, Director of Education, Erin Kelly, feels great pride in leading an organization that demonstrates such an inclusive approach to continuous learning for the staff and leverages 4
many community partnerships to strengthen the support to the students. Their Mission is commitment to the engagement and empowerment of students, staff as well as families and community partners. “Our 2014-15 board improvement plan is emphasizes excellence in education, every learner every day,� states Kelly.
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Parent involvement towards better mental health Parent involvement is of critical importance to the GECDSB. The district actively promotes parent involvement and encourages parents and guardians to participate in their child’s educational experience. In her message to parents, Kelly recommends, “Express a sincere interest in projects and homework and you should set high, but realistic, expectations for your child’s
Belle River DHS students tour REKO Manufacturing facility
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G R E AT E R E S S E X C O U N T Y D I S T R I C T S C H O O L B O A R D schoolwork. Encourage and recognize his or her special talents and successes at school and share them with family and friends.” The GECDSB supports a variety of workshops and activities, which are organized by the Parent Involvement Committee, to provide opportunities for parents to stay involved and maintain twoway communication between home and school. Some of these activities focus on the importance of mental health, which is a tenet of the GECDSB. A series of mental health workshops have been offered, including: “Mood Fluctuations in Children Director of Education Erin Kelly reads to and Youth”, “Are Life Stressors Causing You or students at Glenwood PS Your Child to Make Poor Choices or Blow Up?” and “Fighting ADHD Not Your Child”. Award Winning The GECDSB is one of only a few i n n o vat i v e d e s i g n s o lu t i o n s Boards in the province of Ontario to assign a superintendent who oversees mental health initiatives.
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Forging strong partnerships In addition to maintaining positive relationships with parents and guardians, a principle for the GECDSB, which sets them apart from other school districts in Canada is expanding its multitude of community partnerships. The district identifies partnerships with the community as a priority in its 2011-2015 Strategic Plan. The GECDSB is a partner with REKO
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Manufacturing, Valient Tool, BASF, the Windsor Regional Hospital, the United Way, the Southwest University of China and many more. This year the district hopes to engage and connect with even more new constituencies. Why does the GECDSB see such importance in community and vendor partnerships? Students need lessons relevant to real life experiences - it is crucial for them to see how businesses and agencies operate and what they require from employees. These partnerships also affirm the notion that everyone has a responsibility to participate and a benefit to gain from public education. This continuum is exemplified by the GECDSB’s Community Kitchen Program. The Unemployed Help Centre, an area not-for-profit organization, has installed a kitchen where a teacher instructs a group of students in a co-op culinary arts program. Utilizing the service of another community non-profit partner, Forgotten Harvest, the Community Kitchen Program produces more than a thousand meals per week for the VON’s Meals on Wheels program and 46 hundred snacks for a school snack program. Director Kelly has recently completed her first year leading the GECDSB, she reflects, “I am very impressed with the number of partnerships and the amount of philanthropy we have and we’re also in an area where the mental health initiative is quite strong. Our employee relations are great, and I think the partnership piece is, in many respects, good communication to our community
Director of Education Erin Kelly
“Our 2014-15 board improvement plan emphasizes excellence in education, every learner every day” – Erin Kelly, Director
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Students work in Community Kitchen at Unemployed Help Centre in Windsor
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in terms of what’s happening and how we can work together.” Green initiatives and Ecoschools As highlighted previously, one particularly noteworthy partnership is with the multi-national chemical manufacturer, BASF which has leant its resources and experience to provide an incredible site for students’ environmental learning. Fighting Island is a former industrial wasteland, located in the Detroit River, rendered impotent by the dumping of soda ash over an extended period by its previous owner. BASF has, industriously undertaken the task of restoring the property to a natural area. The GECDSB has been permitted, for a decade, to operate a classroom on the island which welcomes hundreds of students each year. In 2006 the GECDSB
implemented a Board-wide environmental stewardship program, Ecoschools. Introduced in four phases, the program requires, each school to establish an ecoteam consisting of an administrator, teacher, custodian and students. Each year, the teams are able to apply for provincial certification, which evaluates their participation, involvement and success with bronze, silver and gold awards. About 80 % percent of GECDSB schools have been certified. Kelly states that the GECDSB stands apart because, “It is one of the only school boards to make school based environmental stewardship a mandatory part of the board through policy.” The use of energy in schools is managed by means of energy data software which allows abnormal usage in water, electricity or gas to be addressed. The GECDSB
“The GECDSB is one of the only school boards to make school based environmental stewardship a mandatory part of the board through policy” – Erin Kelly, Director w w w. p u b l i c b o a r d . c a
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G R E AT E R E S S E X C O U N T Y D I S T R I C T S C H O O L B O A R D
Students using technology in the classroom
has been recognized by ERCA (Essex Region Conservation Authority) for its Ecoschools stewardship program. The Board is also proud that the sustainability of the Ecoschools program has been recognized in the Provincial Operational review as a best practice across the Province and it has sustained a Service Quality System in its Facilities Services Department which has met an ISO 9001 standard for 10 plus years. 10
The flagship of the GECDSB’s environmental citizenship is Dr. David Suzuki Public School, built with 20 environmental technologies that make it 70 % more energy efficient than a similar building built to code. The building has received the highest honor from the Green Building Council, LEED Platinum certification. The school’s features include such as ground source heat pumps, in floor heating, light tubes and sun pipe technology, rain water
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harvesting, solar wall and panels, living wall, polished concrete floors, cork flooring, windmill technology, maximized natural light into hallways and classrooms, landscaping bio swales to control water runoff, and naturalized landscaping. Supporting the staff to offer excellence The GECDSB also offers centralized support to school staff so that they are well equipped to meet students’ needs in the areas of math, literacy, differentiation of instruction, assessment and evaluation. The district works to determine what each school’s specific needs are to ensure that the staff has the most relevant knowledge to provide the best teaching practices and therefore the best outcomes. Kelly explains that, “The core of the learning for our staff is really focused on their respective continuous improvements plans for student achievement so we focus on what the school is targeting. Each school will then review the available data, report cards, and school climate information and determine what they believe to be the most important needs of their students. This allows them to determine what adjustments are necessary for the students.” The staff in each school is highly engaged in the learning as it is tailored to their needs and their students. With the staff, parents and community working together, the GECDSB ensures a comprehensive educational experience that all students need and deserve.
Company Information The Greater Essex County District School Board, in partnership with the community, provides learning opportunities which support, challenge and inspire all students to achieve their full potential and enable them to participate meaningfully in their communities.
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Greater Essex County District School Board 451 Park Street West, P.O. Box 210, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9A 6K1 www.publicboard.ca