After nearly a 35 year career in education, I retired as the Superintendent of Schools in January 2020. While in the role as superintendent, I sat on two national committees, ERDI and C21 and also was an adjunct professor for Gonzaga University. I now work as a leadership consultant supporting the work of school boards, system and school leaders.
Chris Smeaton
Author's posts
Nov 22
Vimy Ridge Tour: A journey not just an event!
It has been over a week now since I returned home from France. Given that I was in Paris during the terrorist attacks, most of my conversations and interviews have been about my experiences around those events. Lost in many ways, was the purpose for my trip to France. In 2017, we will celebrate the …
Nov 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- November 2015
Happy Catholic Education Sunday! I hope you appreciated the message that was read at masses in our local parishes today. It was written to inform our parishioners, many of whom have no direct connection with education, of the many successes of our division but, it also carried a slightly political message. While I do not believe …
Nov 01
Catholic Education Sunday 2015
Below you will find the message read at all masses this weekend celebrating Catholic Education Sunday. Holy Spirit is a regional division that serves students in Bow Island, Coaldale, Lethbridge, Picture Butte, Pincher Creek, Taber, and surrounding communities. Today, we celebrate Catholic Education Sunday. Each year we set aside this special day to celebrate the …
Oct 21
Getting to Excellent
The following post was published in the Lethbridge Herald on October 21, 2015. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the University of Lethbridge’s Scholarship Breakfast, featuring John Herdman, head coach of the Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team, as the guest speaker. His message focused on the ability to get to excellent and, although it …
Oct 12
FNMI Success
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the 1st annual First Nations, Metis & Inuit Education Symposium in Edmonton. The conference theme was Listening, Understanding and Moving Forward Together. Our Division sent a team of 10 including two of our highly respected elders. It should come as no surprise that a central theme to the symposium was …
Oct 04
Edcamp: A conversation on learning
A couple of weekends ago, I had the pleasure of opening #edcampPSD at Greystone Centennial Middle School in Spruce Grove. While those who know me, understand it is easy for me to talk in front of groups, it was a little intimidating speaking in the infamous George Couros territory and having Discover Education guru Dean …
Oct 04
From the Desk of the Superintendent- October 2015
We are now into the month of October and the season of fall, but I want to take you back to my opening comments as a reminder of why we exist, where do we go and what do we do. We are unique because we are a Catholic school division and it is because of …
Sep 20
Innovation: Let’s make it simple!
I just read the report on Innovation from the Conference Board of Canada which ranks Alberta as 15th overall. Given that Alberta is one of the top educational jurisdictions in the world, the stat is a little disconcerting. Innovation is defined by The Conference Board, “As a process through which economic or social value is …
Sep 11
Moving forward with Student Learning Assessments
Last week, Holy Spirit decided to participate in the Student Learning Assessment pilot. The choice of all or none implementation was certainly not preferred but in discussing with many of our administrators and grade 3 teachers who participated last year, ALL was better than NONE! Enclosed is the message sent to all of our grade …
Sep 06
National Principals Leadership Institute- Designing Schools for the Future
This past summer, I was invited as a member of C21 Canada to attend the National Principals Leadership Institute in New York. The invitation provided for a presentation on the work of C21 Canada as well as an opportunity to serve as a leadership consultant to school and system leaders from across North America. The …