New Beginnings

This past year, there have been several changes in our small school: declining enrollment and as a result, budget constraints; and the resignation of a well-known and well-liked teacher. We've also downsized our numbers of educational assistants in an effort to re-align resources and provide as much certified staffing as possible. I've also stepped back from a second school that I was principal of in an effort to become more of a help to the small school I'm in.

As I sit in my office at home, I am mentally preparing for a new timetable, new supervision schedule and a new way of working with students in transition or in need of special education. Sometimes it helps to just sit and reflect upon vision I have for the school.

First of all, the parents in the community have varying levels of commitment to the school. Some have a history in that they attended this school or had family attend the school at different times since its institution. Some have had good experiences and some have had bad experiences in the school. Secondly, in a community where there are fewer and fewer students to draw from and where there is an alternative school just down the road, it becomes quite problematic to keep the enrollment up. In addition, the school is a Catholic School, and this contributes a whole other set of factors to consider for parents looking to enroll their children. Other considerations include: class sizes, lack of resources, and fewer opportunities for competition.

I believe that our school has many strengths: our Catholicity, the caring and compassion we show each student regardless of race, ability or creed, the small class sizes, a successful Tiered reading program, an effective discipline procedure, strong competitive girls sports team, experts on staff in Maths & Sciences & the humanities, a FSL teacher, certified educational assistants, full day, every day Kindergarten, and the playschool right in our own building. We are still teaching Kindergarten to Grade 9. Our students and staff make up a family where we pray together every day, we do our best work, and we help each other do well.

So how do we get our community to see us as the school of choice? We try to get news out to the papers and the community in our newsletters; we invite the community in for our Christmas dinner and celebrations of learning; we promote the school whenever we get a chance. Is this enough? What else can we do?