St. Francis Catholic Elementary School
in London has been recognized provincially as a recipient of the
2009-10 “Schools on the Move: Lighthouse Program.” In
three years, St. Francis has gone from a school designated for
support to this honour.
Principal Mark Santandrea told the Board of Trustees this week that
everyone in the school is committeed to improving student learning.
"The staff made the choice to embrace this ( a team-centred approach)
and that is not easy," he said. He said it is not just
about EQAO test results, although St. Francis has doubled its EQAO
scores in the past three years.
Principal Santandrea said
he is very proud of the students, who he calls resilient and he
cited the support of parents as a factor in the improvement.
"Our best years are still ahead of us," he said,
"with the staff desire to improve."
The Schools on the Move initiative celebrates
schools that are making significant and sustained progress in
student achievement, and connects them with other schools that have
similar backgrounds and challenges. Schools are eligible only if
they can articulate the strategies they used and how they
implemented them. The goal is for schools to share effective
strategies and learn from one another. Student Achievement Officers
from the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat work collaboratively with
school boards to select schools that have used data and evidence to
significantly improve student achievement over three years.
Of the 4500 schools in
Ontario, St. Francis is one of only 30 to be honoured as a
"School on the Move."
Congratulations to the staff, students and parents for this
extraordinary accomplishment!
"This Board table is
going to look very different next year."
... Board Chair Bill Hall
Two more veteran trustees have announced
they will not seek re-election in the fall municipal election.
First, Middlesex Trustee Anne Kavelaars, a 16 year veteran trustee,
announced she would not be running again. Then it was Patrick
Smith’s turn, after 22 years as a Trustee.
Trustee Kavelaars said it was a very
difficult decision for her to make and she said she will miss
serving as a trustee.
Trustee Smith said being a Catholic
school trustee is an awesome privilege and an awesome
responsibility. He said he is confident that future boards
will meet the challenges of societal changes, declining enrolment
and advances in technology.
They join Paul Whitehead and John Ferris,
who announced earlier they would not seek re-election.
Chair Hall said the two have been wonderful
trustees to work with. "It is very difficult to see you
leave," he said.
Do you know a teacher who belongs on the
Teachers’ Wall of Fame? If so, it’s time to get your nomination
in for the 2010 Teachers’ Wall of Fame. For more information.
click on NEWS.
On
February 1 the new Keeping Our Kids Safe at School Act (Bill
157) came into force. This legislation supports the London District
Catholic School Board's belief that all members of our school
community - staff, students, parents, and community agencies - have
a role to play in making our schools a safe place in which to learn.
Find out what's being done to keep our kids
safe and what parents should know. Click on the Bulletin Board
on the LDCSB front page.
BECOMING
A CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
A Call to Service and Stewardship in Christ
On October 25th, 2010,
Catholic school board elections will be held across Ontario.
In an effort to inform those members of the Catholic community
considering the vocation of Catholic school trusteeship, the Ontario
Catholic School Trustees Association has provided the booklet "Becoming
a Catholic School Trustee" as well as a pamphlet entitled
"A
Call to Service." Please open the links for more
information.
Our
Mission
To serve the
Catholic student in a community that nurtures a living faith and provides a
quality Catholic education that enables the individual to
become a contributing member of the Church and
Society.
For feedback,
submissions, suggestions and input, please contact:
or contact:
John Boles, Manager of Communications, 519-663-2088, ext
40015
Spotlight
is produced weekly by the Communications Department of
the LDCSB.
Spotlight is a BRAVO
Award winner for demonstrated excellence, recognized by the
Canadian Association of Communicators in Education and a
winner of the Glorya Nanne Award from the Ontario
Association of Parents in Catholic Education for making a
substantial contribution to fostering better understanding of
Catholic Education.
On
February 1 the new Keeping Our Kids Safe at School Act (Bill
157) came into force. This legislation supports the London District
Catholic School Board's belief that all members of our school
community - staff, students, parents, and community agencies - have
a role to play in making our schools a safe place in which to learn.
