R.E. MOUNTAIN SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTION PLAN 2022-2023
Vision
Co-creating a community which is inclusive, respectful, and engaging for all learners, especially our most vulnerable.
Post pandemic, we need to recognize the hardships, inequities, and emotional impact that staff and students have encountered; these variables need to be addressed for our school to move forward with our educational goal of improving student learning experience for all. Staff continue to improve their practice to engage students in learning. Tremendous gains have been made on numerous fronts including RTI/PLC and student-centered assessment including proficiency scales, vulnerable learners, anti-racism, and mental health and wellness. So much more work lies ahead on these fronts. Our belief is that we need to establish an action plan which is authentic and mirrors the work we do daily to improve the life chances of our students.
In order to better serve our most vulnerable students, we will continue to identify specific students for whom our current supports are not working and make the appropriate adjustments to help them succeed. Not only are we interested in academic success for individual learners, but we also want every student to feel a sense of belonging, respect, and acceptance; we will use targeted strategies to encourage everyone in our community to embrace anti-racist systems to gain a better understanding for and tolerance of others.
Team
The leadership team moving the Action Plan forward comprises of Department Heads, the Admin Team, the Guiding Coalition, the Enhanced Family Support Committee, and various other committees.
Community
We continue to share our Action Plan goals and progress with our PAC and other parent groups. It will be posted on our website and shared via other social media platforms. We currently work closely with a local church, Mountainview Alliance, and other community organizations such as the Langley School District Foundation and Breakfast Clubs of Canada, to provide a robust breakfast and snack program for our students.
Environmental Design
We will create various intervention structures to support our students including the following:
• Effective strategies in our Focused Flex which will provide consistent support for students:
➢ What do we want students to know and be able to do? (Target)
➢ How will we know if they have learned it? (Evidence)
➢ How do we respond if they don’t learn it? (Action)
➢ How will we respond if they already know it? (Action)
• Structured school wide strategies in Focused Flex via TEAMS or assemblies
• Enhanced Family Supports and the Breakfast Club program
• Communication process with home via Pyramid of Student Support
• Learning Support Services – Craig Moore
• Indigenous Support Worker & Youth Care Worker – Jenn Forlin and Tristan Miller
• Planning by Social Justice Dept Head – Bal Dhanoa
Financial Sustainability
All our initiatives will be funded through Board-based and school-based budgets. Strategies coming out of this Action Plan will take financial priority.
Student Learning
• Tier 1 – We have been working to identify essential/prioritized learning standards for each subject. Grade Nine PLS were completed in June 2022.
• Tier 2 – Equip staff with strategies, resources, and supports during Focused Flex to assist with student learning. Empower students to take responsibility for their learning and advocate for support during Focused Flex.
• Tier 3 – We have generated a confidential list of students from our school’s populations of Indigenous students, children in care, vulnerable students, and diverse learners called ‘Primary List’.
• SEL – We have prioritized learning around acceptance of others regarding culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and religion. We will use our Tracking App to collect data about incidents, allowing us to make informed decisions.
• We will use our new ‘Aerie Ambassador’ program to guide and empower our Grade 9s with skills to be effective citizens and learners.
Professional Learning
As a community, we understand that we must utilize a variety of interventions to support our most vulnerable students so they can succeed as educated citizens. We are also learning that the institutional, systemic, and individual nature of racism and discrimination can negatively impact our students’ mental wellness. As a staff, we must begin to understand these inequities and employ strategies to address and combat them with our students.
Several initiatives have been put in place to support professional learning within the context of this plan:
• Our Guiding Coalition team and LSS department will provide hands-on learning and strategies which we can incorporate into our classrooms based on Tier 1, 2, and 3.
• Our Guiding Coalition and Department Heads will work towards learning and implementation of PLC/RTI time starting semester two. 3
• Our Social Justice Department Head will engage staff in conversations and learning about best practices around anti-racism, acceptance, cultural celebrations, and gallery displays of special recognition including Black History Month, Pride Month, Truth & Reconciliation activities.
• We will use our Focused Flex time to re-teach concepts, work with small groups, provide extension opportunities, and empower students to provide evidence of missing work and understanding. Students will share with the school population via Teams what is working for them and how they can best use Focused Flex time.
• Every staff and department meeting will have a connection to our Action Plan. The admin team will model engagement strategies which staff can take back to their classrooms.
• Our Professional Development Day on September 24 and Design and Assessment days will be completely focused on preparing for PLC/RTI time and Tutorial time to be implemented in semester two.
• November Design & Assessment Day will be used to meet with our support team – Admin, counsellors, LSS staff, ELL, ISP & YCW’s to address how we can better support our most vulnerable learners.
Measurement
Various data will be examined to determine where support is required, what kind of support is necessary, and how effective that support has been:
• We will track students on our ‘Primary List’ and assess their progress based on academic marks, SEL, and supports at the end of each term with our counsellors, LSS staff, YCW, Aboriginal Support worker, and the admin team.
• Our ‘Primary List’ will be reviewed bi-weekly at counsellor and admin meetings to ensure targeted interventions are in place for students.
• Provincial student survey data will be examined to find gaps. Based on our findings, we will develop our own survey to get more detailed information about our unique population of learners.
• We will gather groups of students four times throughout the year to get their voice on what is working in the school and what needs to be improved.
• We will seek feedback from the Student Union group about school improvements and continued growth areas for our community.
• Our Social Justice Department Head will gather data from our Tracking App to examine what our strengths and challenges have been and to help make plans to improve learning around the key issues.
• We will conduct a student (“Tell them from me”) and family survey twice during the year to see whether our initiatives around anti-racism are having an impact on school culture. This would allow us to identify improvements and areas for continued focus.