Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario are the only three provinces remaining in Canada that still offer publicly funded Catholic education. If you are a new Canadian, or maybe just new to Alberta, your experience of Catholic education has probably been that it is not very accessible to the general Catholic population because it is private and involves …
Tag: Holy Spirit Catholic School Division
Nov 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- November 2019
Did everybody survive Halloween? As I made my way through schools yesterday, there might have been just a little bit of excitement! Today unfortunately, there will probably be a fair amount of sugar highs!!! I want to begin this message with some reference to our October board meeting. Every October, the Board holds their organizational …
Oct 13
Standards and professional growth
In 1997, the Ministerial Order, Teaching Quality Standard Applicable to the Provision of Basic Education in Alberta was signed. It provided a standard with descriptors of the knowledge, skills and attributes related to teachers who were new to the profession (i.e. Interim Certification) and those who held a permanent certificate. A new policy derived from that Ministerial …
Oct 02
Focusing on the competencies
The following blog post was published in the Lethbridge Herald on October 02, 2019. Last Thursday, Holy Spirit began the first of three division wide collaboration days. While most professional learning days have keynote presentations and work in similar interest groups, these days will focus on student competencies and will be cross grade and interdisciplinary. …
May 11
“Shine your Light! Follow your Path!”- Graduation Address for St. Michael’s Pincher Creek 2019
Oki! Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. It is always a pleasure to come to Pincher Creek and celebrate the graduation of our students from St. Michael’s. Congratulations to our St. Michael’s Graduates of 2019. What a great theme you have chosen for your graduation this year, “Shine your Light; Follow your Path.” I want to …
May 11
“Place I Belong”- Graduation Address for Catholic Central High School 2019
Oki! Bonjour Mesdames et Monsieurs and Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen and a warm welcome to the stars of the weekend, our 2019 Graduating Class of Catholic Central High School. I want to begin by thanking the grads for choosing a song, Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver, that I can play on …
Nov 15
In support of Catholic Education
The following blog post was written for and published in the Lethbridge Herald on November 14, 2018. In late October, the Public Schools’ Boards Association of Alberta (PSBAA) initiated a campaign to consolidate all education into one publicly funded system. In essence, they are desiring one system that would effectively provide parents with no choice …
Nov 10
Effective School Councils
A couple of weeks back, our school division invited a representative from the Alberta School Councils’ Association to provide a workshop on some of the functions of school councils. The presentation reminded me of the important work that should be done by this group but often gets lost because of well -intentioned volunteerism. I don’t believe …
Oct 03
Preparing for a very different future!
The following blog post was written for the Lethbridge Herald on October 3, 2018. Last week, Holy Spirit hosted an event with Apple Canada entitled, “Preparing students for today’s mobile workplace.” Our division was well supported through the attendance of board members, senior and school leaders and students. The conversation about preparing students for the …
Oct 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- October 2018
On Friday, like so many of our schools, we honored Orange Shirt Day at St. Basil Catholic Education Centre. As part of the day, we engaged all of our central office staff in the Blanket Exercise. It was powerful learning for all! This is my second time through the exercise and I was struck by …