Highlights from the latest meeting of the Creighton school board, held March 23:
New principal
The board voted to promote Creighton Community School vice-principal Jason Straile to principal effective this fall.
Trustees congratulated Straile and said they hope to work with him for years to come.
He replaces Stacy Lair, who is resigning as principal effective June 30 to take a position with the North East School Division in Tisdale.
Trustees commended Lair for her service.
Positive results
Straile presented trustees with Creighton Community School’s results from the March 2015 Fountas and Pinnell levelled reading assessment for students in grades 1, 2 and 3.
The provincial government has set a goal that 85 per cent of all Grade 3 students be reading at or above grade level by the year 2020.
Recent results show 76 per cent of Creighton’s Grade 1 students, 88 per cent of Grade 2 students and 81 per cent of Grade 3 students are reading at or above grade level.
With just over three months of school left, Straile said he is confident the school will achieve the provincial targets.
Support role
Wendy Bentley and Jodi Pawlachuk presented trustees with an overview of their role as student support teachers at Creighton Community School.
Bentley said there are fewer students on inclusion and intervention plans than in past years. This allows student support teachers more time to go into classrooms and assist teachers in the implementation of these plans.
Another service they provide for teachers is the creation of alternative programming for students in Grades 10 to 12 who are not following the regular curriculum.
The women said they are doing a more thorough job of monitoring student progress and following up on programming suggestions with classroom teachers.
This subtle shift from providing direct service to students, to coaching classroom teachers to change their teaching practise, is resulting in improved results for students, the board heard.
What a trip!
On March 26, 17 students and three teacher sponsors travelled to Rome for Creighton Community School’s biannual Travel Club trip.
Destinations visited included Rome, Sorrento, Tolo and Athens. The group took in sights such as the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and the Coliseum.
There was also a guided tour of Pompeii that included a visit to the birthplace of the Olympics.
Many students commented that the trip was a life-altering experience.
