Looking ahead to a brand new school year!

I’m always so excited to start a new school year, and I’m sure I’ve blogged about that a number of times in the last ten and a half years that I have been in our school district! Let me remind you: I love school! I’ve always loved school, as a child, as a teacher,as an adult university student while doing my Masters Degree, and as a school leader. Schools are not just buildings with classrooms and subjects and books (or devices), they are hubs of learning, and community.

Thanks to Chris Kennedy and Dean Shareski, I’ve been reflecting over the last few weeks on the importance and value of JOY in schools. I was inspired by our Superintendent’s final words of the 2016-17 school year when he noted that JOY was the one word he would use to describe West Vancouver Schools. I’ve recently enjoyed reading “Embracing a Culture of Joy” by Dean Shareski. I’ve often felt joy as a learner at different stages of my development. Joy is all around at Chartwell.There’s an energy in our school that is tangible, and contagious! It is a privilege to witness students grow and learn new skills, new competencies that will prepare them for their future. It is an honour to work alongside dedicated teachers and staff members who embrace change in curriculum, assessment and reporting procedures, change in learning environments, and change in certain traditions, although many traditions are here to stay, do not fret. The art of evolving our system is in finding the balance between innovation and transformation, and deeply rooted and valued traditions. It is crucial that we continue to cultivate joy within our walls, and beyond, if we want to continue to engage our learners so that they participate fully in their school experience. You will see many changes this year as you walk into our building next week, exciting changes! Our Learning Commons is almost complete, our new portable will house the Music and Band Programs, and we will have a brand new gymnasium very shortly. The learning spaces enhancement project is moving right along! We also have an additional division this year, which translates into increased staffing and resources for our students. You will see some new faces too! I am thrilled to welcome a number of new staff members and I know that they will feel welcomed by our wonderful community. I am looking forward to introducing them to you soon! I know that together, we will move the school and the learning forward, demonstrating our resilience when needed, as we did without our gym at the end of last school year! We did things differently from previous years, and it was a lovely year-end!

The school experience looks very differently from what it did a few short years ago.  Inquiry-based learning has made it possible for our students to work in collaborative groups while allowing them to develop their foundation skills such as reading and writing. It has shifted the focus from the “what” to the “how” and the “why” .  It supports language development, critical and creative thinking skills, and personal and social competencies in a collaborative environment. Students are learning to use digital tools to access information, and thinking skills to analyze it. Our Capstone Connect is a wonderful example of how the learning has changed at Chartwell over the last few years, and the success of that project has rippled to other grades in our school. We have been developing a school-wide Cycle of Inquiry and learning as a team how to scaffold the learning for our primary students and for our ELL learners.

Social and Emotional Learning has been a key area of growth at Chartwell for several years. Programs like the Zones of Regulation and MindUp have been used in every classroom to teach our students to learn self-regulation strategies. Last year our district continued our work on self-regulation with a “Second Wave” initiative focusing on Executive Functions and this year we are continuing to learn more about the connection between executive functions and student development.

At Chartwell this year, you can expect many wonderful things! I hope that you are as excited to embark on a brand new school year as we are! It will be a year of transformation and innovation, with a focus on intentional teaching and learning.

Welcome Back!