School Plan for Continuous Growth 2020-2023 (year 3)

School Mission: Our mission as a faith-based Catholic community is to demonstrate love, acceptance, and guidance in a Christ centered learning environment, seeking every opportunity to teach our students to develop their unique gifts in order to reach their full potential.  At St. Elizabeth, we work as a team to create a positive, inclusive environment so all students can feel safe and accepted, and therefore be willing to take risks as life-long learners.   .
School Vision: All our students are welcomed to our school community to learn together to reach their potential as God intended.
School Charism: In the tradition of St. Elizabeth, our patron saint, our charism is compassion, mercy, service, and the nurturing of mind, body, and spirit.

Priority: Growing in Faith
Our students and staff will learn and live the Word of God through worship, witness, and service.
Key Strategies:
F.1 Re-engage families, parishes, and Catholic organizations to provide opportunities for growing in faith.
F.4 Provide formation opportunities for students and staff that further their participation in our faith and enable them to discern the presence of God in their lives.
Actions we will take
We will continue this year with our students participating in more acts of service for others. We want to encourage them to share their God given gifts with others! Our staff has brainstormed many service projects our students can do in the school, in the neighborhood, and by reaching out in our greater community. We would like to see our students participate in grade level appropriate projects monthly. Ideas could be: making cards for the patients at the Stollery, visits to a senior's centre, schoolyard/community clean up, chalk art on the sidewalk, choir performances, cards for the community, decorating our school fence, clothing drive etc. All are activities our students can do to participate in our faith and help others feel great while feeling great themselves! Of course we will always welcome parents to join us on our projects and to have the opportunity to share their gifts with us as well. We will highlight these projects in our newsletters and submit them for the Division's Social Justice Report.
Performance Measures:
Our performance in this area will be evaluated using the following Local Measure:
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Catholic Identity.
  • Newsletter updates showcasing the projects
  • Publication of exemplars of our projects in the Division Social Justice Report
  • Participation of parents in our projects
Priority: Student Success
Through a holistic approach, students will develop to their fullest potential through multiple pathways.
Key Strategies:
S.1 Identify and apply best practices for curriculum implementation to ensure student success.
S.2 Implement teaching and assessment practices to deepen students’ understanding and to increase ability to target teaching and improve learning.
S.4 Continue to support students’ diverse needs through best practice and responsive and flexible programming.
Actions we will take
Our school population has a wide range of academic needs. Our staff takes pride in meeting the needs of all students but there is always room for improvement! Our school is lucky to have an LA consultant coming as our AP next year. We will continue to examine our screening data in order to provide the best reading instruction for the students in each grade. We will focus more on writing next year. We want to have common goals, language and writing behaviours across the grade levels. Based on the data we receive from the Write On, it will inform our goals for each division. MathUp - Our teachers will use the MAST data to inform and drive instruction to help students achieve greater success in their mathematical understanding. We will focus on the Minds On portion of the lessons in order to encourage Math Talks and a deeper connection to the outcomes being studied. We will also continue to use the online program called Reflex Math to ensure our students have knowledge of the basic facts required at their grade level.
Performance Measures:
Our performance in this area will be measured using:
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Student Learning (Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Exam Results)
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of High School Completion
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Citizenship
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Student Learning Engagement
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Welcoming, Caring, Respectful and Safe Learning Environment
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Access to Support and Services
Local Measures:
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Access to Help, Support and Resources
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Student Engagement
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Safe and Caring Learning Environment
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Foundational Knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit
  • Upward trend of date form the screeners across the entire school over the year
Priority: An Excellent Place to Work and Learn
We will provide an optimal learning and working environment that fosters a culture of faith, trust, unity, inclusivity, confidence, respect, value and appreciation for one another.
Key Strategies:
E.6 Continue to create an excellent Catholic educational working environment through the provision of faith formation, health, and wellness opportunities and supports for all staff.
Actions we will take
Things didn't open up as quickly as we had anticipated so we need to continue this goal forward. We need to make sure the adults in our building are all right in order for our students to be alright. Last year was a tough one on our staff. We still need to reconnect with each other and provide opportunities for our staff to be together. We want to continue to work on our culture and climate in the building by building strong and trusting relationships. This is necessary again because our staff changes from year to year and we gained so many staff members throughout the year that we don't know well yet. We want to provide more social activities and provide more opportunities for collaboration. This year the staff have requested time set aside for collaboration as well as goals for what they should accomplish during that time! We also want to start a Staff wellness committee to ensure this goal is achieved!
Performance Measures:
Our performance in this area will be measured using:
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Education Quality
Local Measures:
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Teaching and Assessment Practices
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Staff Engagement and Respect in the Workplace
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Overall Satisfaction with Edmonton Catholic Schools
Priority: Building Our Future Together
We will engage in good stewardship of all resources through principled governance and engagement.
Key Strategies:
B.2 Continue to walk together recognizing the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
B.4 Continue to nurture collaborations, relationships and partnerships to provide programs and services for students from Pre-K-12.
Actions we will take
We have planned for a whole-school, collaborative approach to focus on helping our students and staff grow in our understanding of our First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students and the value they bring to our community. Our First Nations, Metis, and Inuit designate will continue to implement "Climbing the Mountain: Educating for Reconciliation in Canada" by involving every classroom in an age-appropriate monthly lesson to help our St. Elizabeth community develop new understandings and healthy relationships with our Indigenous brothers and sisters. We want to continue to rebuild those connections with outside agencies and bring more opportunities to our students through these agencies. We have partnerships that provided extra curricular activities for our students (FreePlay, Jays Care, Running Club), academic focus (EISA, Big Brother/Big Sisters), and some that were just for fun (Jump Rope for Heart, WE Day, Terry Fox Run)! Next year we want to further solidify their connections to our students. FreePlay will be working right out of our school! Big Brothers mentoring should be in person again.
Performance Measures:
Our performance in this area will also be measured using:
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Parental Involvement and,
  • Alberta Education Assurance Measure of Budget-Actual Comparison
Local Measures:
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Parent/Guardian Involvement
  • ECSD Assurance Survey of Theme - Implementing Frameworks and Procedures
November Review:
Our students have started participating in service projects! So far this has been creating thank you cards for the Rotary Breakfast and our PCL Christmas party invite! We have analyzed our LA data and our writing data with our AP to recognize where our students are and where they need to go. We have continued our work with phonics and phonemic awareness and making sure our new staff members are onboard. In Mathematics, we have analyzed our data with our consultant and recognized where our students are and where they need to go! Reflex Math has begun in each grade level from grades 2-6. Many programs have gotten started in our school so far this year. We have Free Play up and running daily with 18 students. Big Brothers and Big Sisters have trained our students requiring mentors and we are now just waiting for a match to be made. EISA is back in the building weekly connecting with our Permanent Residents and setting up whatever they need. Our students participated in the Cross Country Run and some classes have started on field trips again! Some staff members have joined the ILS book club and we have had Shannon in to help each class learn to write their own Treaty acknowledgement. We continue to focus on our staff and their wellness. We recognize that if they are acknowledged they will rise!
February Review:
Our students have been participating in service projects this year!! They have written letters to soldiers overseas and have created thank you cards for what they have received from others in their social justice projects. Our staff also participated in donating toys to Santa's Anonymous at Christmas. We just finished making Valentine cards for a senior's home! We have analyzed our new LA data and our writing data to recognize where our students are and where they need to go. We have continued our work with phonics and phonemic awareness and began using decodable texts in our grades 1 and 2. We have done the same in writing and have implemented using Story Champs in grades K-1 so far. In Mathematics, we have booked time with our consultant to work with the teachers and students using some new resources (digiblocks) and strategies (Math Talks). We continue to take care of each other so we can take better care of our students!