Redfish staff welcomed UBC’s West Kootenay Teacher Education Program (WKTEP) teacher candidates back to our school on October 5 when we held our annual Fall Into Nature for which WKTEP has been joining us for more than 7 years.
At Redfish School, to foster that strong sense of family that exists, not only are our classes multiage but we frequently engage in multiage activities in our colour groups.
For our first colour group activity of the year, we created a beautiful bulletin board of a school of fish noting similarities and uniqueness of the fish, swimming together.
When James Beaudoin goes to work each morning in Nelson to pick up his school bus, he knows that he is directly supporting a child’s education, social and physical well being.
“Being a bus driver is an important job, and the feeling of being needed and helping my community is very fulfilling. In some cases, we are the first smile that a child will see at the start of their day. Without our support, many kids would have a lot of roadblocks in the way to get to school.”
On March 10, the Province of B.C. announced several changes to existing public health orders (PHO) that affect the Provincial COVID-19 Communicable disease Guidelines for K-12 Settings. These changes come into effect the first day of Spring Break – March 14, 2022.
At a meeting on March 3, the SD8 Board of Education directed Superintendent Trish Smillie to extend the implementation date of the district’s Proof of Vaccination Regarding COVID-19 Administrative Procedure from March 11 to April 11, 2022. This one-month extension will allow the Board time to consider evolving COVID-19 data and changes to public health directives.
The purpose of the Proof of Vaccination Procedure is to safeguard the health and safety of employees and students from COVID-19.
The recent announcement by the Williams Lake First Nation of 93 unmarked burial sites discovered at the former Williams Lake, St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School adds to the terrible truths of missing children buried at other former residential school sites in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada.
- Partners and public invited to complete online survey
School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) invites students, parents, staff and the wider community to share their voices in an online survey. The survey is part of a comprehensive public engagement process initiated by the Board of Education to inform a new policy to address racism.
The past two weeks have been busy for families, students, teachers and other school district staff who have worked together to make sure students safely returned to school, and that we have plans in place for continued learning if school closures occur due to spread of the Omicron variant.
To assist us, the Ministry of Education has shared provincial protocols with school and district administrators and staff so together, we can manage school associated activity in the best way possible.
At the December 7th, SD8 Board meeting, a motion to permanently change the name of the secondary school in Creston was unanimously passed. The school is now officially named the Kootenay River Secondary School.
“A new name is necessary for a new start” said Principal Brian Hamm, who has been working together this year with a group of educators to find an inclusive name for the school, one that bestows the spirit of reconciliation.
In preparation for this, School District 8 has identified some areas within the district where, due to grade and topography, the service by a school bus during events of severe winter weather would place students and staff at an unacceptable level of risk. Below are some pre-determined alternate school bus stop locations and pick up or drop off times, in case of a severe winter event in the Nelson Area.
For all students living on Longbeach Road: