North Vancouver School District #44

Notes from the desk of John Lewis, Superintendent of Schools

North Vancouver School District #44

Artists for Kids – After School Art Programs

Posted by  on Wednesday, March 13th 2013     

Daylen Luchsinger, AFK Program Facilitator with young AFK Artist, Jasmine

Monday evening, March 11 was a celebration of the winter after school art program.  Approximately 250 people dropped by to enjoy the student exhibition hung amidst the Artists for Kids Permanent Teaching Collection. For some students this was their first foray into the life of an exhibiting young artist while for many of the students this show is a part of their regular exhibition cycle as Artist for Kids After School Art Veterans.

The celebrated Artists for Kids Program is an incredibly rich visual arts education program made possible through the generous support of the Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists (a registered charity) and through the sale of prints to the public provided through partnerships with our artist patrons.  The AFK Program and the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art are unique community treasures of North Vancouver!

category: Program Diversity, Sharing & Celebrating Success

District Band and Strings Festival

Posted by  on Tuesday, March 12th 2013     

This year’s District Elementary Band and Strings Festival took place on March 7th and 8th at the Lucas Centre. In all, 26 elementary schools participated in this annual celebration of music. School groups performed for each other over the two days and enjoyed the opportunity to share, learn and listen. Thursday night’s concert featuring the 2013 District Honour Band and Honour Strings performers drew a crowd of over 500 students and parents, and was standing room only! Two professional groups conducted workshops with the band and strings groups prior to their concerts – the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Infinitus Strings.

The Band and Strings Program is one of the exceptional features of the North Vancouver School District made possible through the tremendous efforts of our teachers, our parents, and our partner groups.  ‘Instrumental’ in providing leadership to this event has been teacher Lasse Leslie who organized over 1,000 student participants with the strong support of our District’s Band & Strings teachers.  Thank you for making this event a great success!

category: Program Diversity, Sharing & Celebrating Success

Education Week – highlighting student success!

Posted by  on Monday, March 11th 2013     

 

As we celebrate Education Week across the School District this week, it is a perfect time to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of our students.  A number of Provincial Championships took place over the course of last week and once again our students and schools achieved outstanding results.

Windsor Gymnastics Team – Provincial Champions

Windsor Secondary are the proud Provincial Gymnastics Champions for BC School Sports.  While Windsor took first place in each of the Boys, Girls and the combined Boys and Girls categories, Argyle’s team placed 5th and Seycove’s Gymnastics Team placed 9th among the 45 competing schools.

Seycove’s Bantam (Grade 8) Girls basketball team, coached by Geoff Russell, advanced to the final, placing second in the Provincial tournament.  At the same event, the Windsor Girls placed 5th and were also recognized as the most sportsmanlike team.  Seycove’s Junior Team placed 12th at their Provincial Tournament, and Sutherland’s Juvenile team placed 13th.

In Girls wrestling, the Carson Graham girls team, coached by Ian McDonald and Tom Larisch, placing third in team standings.  while achieving many outstanding individual results. Cholena Hrone, of Carson Graham, was voted the Outstanding Female Wrestler.

Our students continue to contribute to the excellent reputation of North Vancouver School District being the Home of Champions.  This level of achievement is simply not possible without the incredible dedication and support of our coaches and our parents!  I look forward to reporting similar achievements from our students throughout Education Week

 

category: Sharing & Celebrating Success

More pajama power

Posted by  on Thursday, March 7th 2013     

 

Seymour Heights Elementary students participate in PJ Day for a Cure

 

It’s been gratifying to hear that many of our schools have participated in this year’s PJ Day for a Cure event to raise awareness and funds to assist children undergoing treatment for cancer. Some schools have hosted pancake breakfasts as part of the day, others have focused on awareness campaigns. Together, staff and students have done an excellent job of balancing the fun in wearing pajamas to school for a day with an improving understanding of the challenges faced by children battling cancer.

At Seymour Heights Elementary, the school’s PAC-purchased set of iPads served as an example for how tablets can be both entertainment devices and learning tools. A few days before Seymour Heights’ PJ Day, students learned in a school-wide assembly that the diversion offered by a tablet is also a useful way to help children relax while undergoing cancer treatment.

When Seymour Heights’ staff and students hosted their PJ Day for a Cure later in the week, it was with a sense of walking in the slippers of others–who often need to wear their pyjamas all day long.

category: Community Connections

Project Based Learning workshops for teachers

Posted by  on Tuesday, March 5th 2013     

The Designs 2013 series, which wrapped up on February 26th, was a great success in terms of deepening teachers’ understanding of innovative, Project-Based Learning (PBL) models of curriculum design and instruction.  Teachers who attended the series were pleased to be able to learn how to implement PBL in their classroom, and how to revise their lesson planning through a process called ‘Project Tuning’.

Above all, the Designs 2013 series provided our teachers with an opportunity for meaningful collegial sharing, dialogue, and professional growth.  Our teachers are dedicated to applying these ‘new lessons’ for the benefit of our students!

category: Instructional Practice

Land, Learning and Livability Community Engagement Update – Plymouth School and site

Posted by  on Friday, March 1st 2013     

Following the Community Meeting of December 4, 2012, the proponents for the redevelopment and/or re-use of the Plymouth School facility and site were evaluated.  The input received at the Community Meeting and submitted in writing was one of the important criteria considered in the evaluation process.

The Board of Education was pleased to receive four quality proponents for the future use of the Plymouth School facility and site.  Upon the application of the evaluation criteria and careful review and consideration, the North Vancouver Board of Education has determined that it will now proceed with discussions with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation to achieve a final agreement.

The proposal for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Skills Centre provided the Board with a comprehensive overview of how Plymouth School can be repurposed, under a lease agreement, to support aboriginal and non-aboriginal education and skills development. By providing essential skills support and apprenticeship training programs, the Tsleil-Waututh proposal complements the School District’s commitment to improving learning outcomes for students of Aboriginal ancestry.  The opportunities for partnerships with Capilano University, Seaspan, Industry Training Authority, and the British Columbia Institute of Technology are additional components of the TWN proposal that support the School District’s goal to strengthen and expand reciprocal community relations.

While the Plymouth building will retain its neighborhood school status, potential renovations, upgrades, and site improvements, at TWN expense, will serve to enhance the building and ensure its continued operation as a community asset, while still being retained for the future needs of the School District.

The Board of Education expresses its sincere appreciation for the interest of Darwin Properties, Lions Gate Christian Academy, and Polygon Pacific Homes in the Plymouth School facility and site.  Each of these proponents provided interesting proposals for the potential redevelopment and re-use of the Plymouth School facility and site.

As the proposal of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation involves the re-use of the current facility, the Board will work in close cooperation with the proponents, the community, and the District of North Vancouver to keep residents and community members informed as we proceed with this exciting opportunity.

category: Communications, Facilities Revitalization

Pink Shirt Day and belonging all year round

Posted by  on Wednesday, February 27th 2013     

February 27, 2013

As a school district, we are pleased to acknowledge February 27th as Pink Shirt Day in British Columbia. Over the past five years, Anti-Bullying/Pink Shirt Day has raised awareness of the issue of bullying as a societal issue, and encouraged the sharing of ideas and solutions to address it.

As we all know, addressing the causes, behaviours and solutions to bullying is a complex issue.  In a recent interview with the North Shore Outlook, Sutherland Secondary counsellor Dr. Vince White emphasizes the importance of creating schools as places of belonging–where all children feel safe and welcome at school. Eastview Elementary is one of our schools that has developed a “Do Good” all year long approach to building belonging. Please take a moment to learn more about their activities here.

By attending to the social and emotional learning needs of students, a foundation is in place to develop schools that we can appreciate as places of belonging. “We’re teaching students about how their behaviour affects the sense of belonging of others,” Dr. White told the Outlook. It’s the process of developing empathy and understanding for others that is essential in fostering healthy and positive relationships.

We describe the concept of social and emotional learning, and share several inspiring examples of it, in the School District’s upcoming Annual Community Report. Please watch for this insert in the March 14th edition of the North Shore Outlook. Additional copies will be available in schools after Spring Break.

category: Integrated Communities

Digital Media Youth Expo 2013 at Argyle Secondary School

Posted by  on Monday, February 25th 2013     

Argyle Secondary School is hosting the Digital Media Youth Expo 2013 on Saturday March 2, 2013. The event will run from noon to 4 PM and is hosted by the Digital Media Academy (DMA) of the North Vancouver School District.

The goal of the Digital Media Youth Expo is similar to that of the DMA which is to bring together high school students and their parents, teachers, post-secondary students and educators and members of industry to learn about the many educational and employment opportunities in digital media.  Although our key audience is high school students and their parents, this event is open to anyone in the community.  We expect that this event will be of interest to many college level students and people from industry and education.

The Expo will have over 14 different colleges and Universities represented with booths focusing on the programs offered in the areas of Film, Graphic Design, Visual Effects, Animation, Game Design, and Sound Design. There will be over 12 presentations, hands-on workshops, and demonstrations on topics ranging from Animation for Game Design, 3D Printing, CG Lighting and Shading, and Storyboard Art, to name a few.

It will be a great opportunity to network and chat with industry professionals, instructors from colleges and universities, fellow educators, and college and high school students.

 

Registration is free via the Digital Media Academy web site or facebook

http://www.dmacademy.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/DigitalMediaAcademyNVSD44

Murray Bulger

Digital Media Academy, Digital Media/IT

Argyle Secondary School

 

category: Community Connections, Information & Communication Technology, Program Diversity

Lonsdale Mountain View by Arnold Shives

Posted by  on Thursday, February 21st 2013     

On Friday February 8th, we released “Lonsdale Mountain View” by Arnold Shives at a reception in the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art. This interpretation of our space at 2121 Lonsdale Avenue, was created to celebrate and honour the opening of the new Gallery. The print is a wood cut printed on Arches Rag paper. Arnold attended the print release which drew a crowd of close to 100 people and was available to sign copies of his book, Alpine Anatomy the Mountain Art of Arnold Shives.

This print is available at the Artist for Kids offices for $650.00.

category: Sharing & Celebrating Success

Craig Kielburger presents at Pro D Conference

Posted by  on Tuesday, February 19th 2013     

The North Vancouver Teachers’ Association coordinated the district-wide Professional Development Conference on Friday, February 8th.  Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children and Me to We provided an inspirational keynote message to staff, highlighting the important and influential role that teachers and staff play in the future direction of students’ lives.  Taking the time to listen, encourage and demonstrate genuine interest in students – at any time during the day, during ‘teachable moments’, is a lesson for each of us to take to heart and share with our students, our colleagues and our parents.

Special thanks go to Heather Abramyk for her leadership as the Professional Development Chair of the NVTA, the Professional Development Conference Committee for their work in organizing the day, the many workshop facilitators and the staff and administration of Carson Graham for hosting another district-wide event within the new school.

Students, staff, parents and community members thoroughly enjoyed the Conference!

category: Integrated Communities
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