School District No. 46 (SD46) has teamed up with an international education consultant to attract more international students to the Coast, assistant superintendent of schools Greg Kitchen reported during the Feb. 10 school board meeting.
Currently the school district hosts up to 20 international students each year from places like Brazil, China, Germany, Korea and Mexico.
“Elective areas such as TV production, cafeteria, woodwork and art programs as well as our community and environment have been a draw,” Kitchen said.
The international education consultant will help SD46 identify areas the school district should develop to encourage more international students to come here.
“We anticipate having an international education website up and running shortly, which will assist us in promoting our district and in recruiting students,” Kitchen noted.
Provincial curriculum
The education implementation committee met recently to discuss implementation of the new curriculum being crafted by the province.
Superintendent of schools Patrick Bocking reported that the committee plans to use staff meetings and the administrative portion of the May Pro-D day to update teachers, adding more training opportunities for teachers will be made available in the 2015/16 school year.
Closed cross boundary
Gibsons Elementary School will be closed to new cross boundary requests as of September this year in order to cut down on potential overcrowding at the new school.
Secretary treasurer Nicholas Weswick said students who already have a sibling at the school will still be able to have their cross boundary requests considered.
BCSTA motions
The school board crafted two motions to forward to the upcoming B.C. School Trustees Association (BCSTA) annual general meeting looking for more monetary support and collaboration from the Ministry of Education to help students with mental health issues.
Trustees also moved to write a letter to the Minister of Education highlighting the need for more support.
“It’s definitely a massive issue,” said student trustee Kailyn Pritchard. “I see it every day at school, people struggling with stress even without mental health issues, so I think it’s extremely important for that kind of additional support to be had in schools.”
