‘Later Literacy’ program lauded

FORT FRANCES—Northwest Catholic District School Board trustees heard a first-hand report from staff and students on the success of their “Later Literacy” program at the board’s regular meeting Saturday morning.
The program—aimed at students aged 11-14 with significant reading and writing difficulties—is now in its fourth year, noted David Sharp, the board’s student success leader.
Jenny Sieders, library assistant at St. Francis School here, told the board she very much enjoyed her role working with students in the “Later Literacy” program.
“It’s very rewarding to know that what you do makes such a profound difference in kids’ lives,” she said.
She works with 14 students for 30-40 minutes, two-three days a week.
The students are given a choice of books. And they not only read together, but work on oral re-telling and write summaries of what they’ve read.
“Their fluency levels have jumped across the board,” Sieders said of the students’ improvement.
“The students acknowledge and appreciate the gains they made,” she added.
Sieders even brought along two students to share their impressions of the program with the board.
“I feel more confident in myself because of this program,” said Grade 7 student Shelby Monahan.
“We can now read out loud a lot better, and with more confidence,” echoed Grade 8 student Katherine Dobie. “It’s been a great experience.”
Board members also were grateful to hear from students and staff alike about one of their programs.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to see the kinds of things we’re sponsoring at the schools through our programs,” said Fort Frances trustee Harold Huntley.
“It’s nice to see the people who are involved and some of the results,” agreed Dryden trustee Robert vanOort, who is chair of the board.
Also at Saturday’s board meeting, trustees discussed the new pupil accommodation review procedure (ARP) which the board is required to submit to the Ministry of Education by April 30.
Last year, the province set out new guidelines regarding school closures to ensure there is a thorough public consultation process.
The local board is in the process of forming a pupil accommodation committee to present the ARP to the board for approval at its next meeting.
Morley Reeve Gary Gamsby has volunteered to sit on the committee, as has Stratton trustee Mark Chojko-Bolec and former trustee Wade Petranik of Dryden, who will sit as a business representative.
Administration now is approaching parents and teachers to sit on the committee.
“We want representatives from each community and each school,” said Chris Howarth, the board’s superintendent of business.
Some aspects of the ARP are mandated by the province while others can be decided upon by the local board.
For example, the guideline for review procedures recommends a school be considered for potential closure if it has an enrolment of less than 50 percent of ministry-rated pupil capacity of the facility.
The board could decide to lower that to 40 percent.
However, the policy is meant as a guideline for administration so they know what to monitor and when to suggest a school for the review process.
“We would not bring a school to you purely because it was at 49 percent [capacity],” Howarth explained.
“We would look at other aspects. And you could say ‘No, we’re not bringing this school to the review process,’” he added.
Howarth said none of the board’s five schools are under 50 percent capacity.
Our Lady of the Way School in Stratton would be the closest, he said, “but it’s still well above 50.”
The policy also recommends the board take into consideration the physical condition of a school.
“Our schools are in reasonable shape,” Howarth noted.
Lastly, trustees voted Saturday to begin their regular meetings one half-hour earlier, with a 6:30 p.m. start for their Tuesday videoconference meetings and a 10 a.m. start for their Saturday face-to-face ones (of which there are four in a year).
Trustees also agreed to hold their in-camera sessions after the regular session, rather than before, in order to not disrupt the flow of the meeting.
The Catholic board’s next meeting is slated for Tuesday, April 17 at the board office next to St. Francis School.