Busy summer for public school board

School may not have been on the minds of students this summer, but at Tuesday evening’s Rainy River District School Board meeting, the board highlighted many of the projects and programs that kept them busy in preparation for the new school year.
One of the highlights was the student success summer program, meant to target at-risk students so they don’t drop out and can continue gaining credits and work towards graduating.
This program included the credit recovery program, which helps students earn credits they previously failed to achieve. This saw a total of 10.5 credits earned over the summer months.
This summer also saw the launch of the Expanded Paid Co-op pilot project. With this new project, eight students from across the board were able to gain a co-op credit during the summer while being employed.
“We’re really happy with the results of this inaugural project and hope next year more students participate as well,” noted RRDSB chair Dan Belluz. ”It may not seem like a lot of credits, but it could mean more students graduating from post-secondary school, so it’s important.”
Students weren’t the only ones in school during the summer, as 30 teachers from across the area participated in the board’s annual Summer Institute, held Aug. 20-21 at Fort Frances High School. This year the summer institute was called “One Size Fits All,” and the board welcomed Gayle Gregory, an expert on differentiated learning.
Gregory, the author of Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn’t Fit All and co-author of Designing Brain Compatible Learning, spent two days leading workshops with the teachers.
Members of the board noted that the topic of differentiated learning is an area that fits well with their own policies of differentiated instruction, and that these 30 teachers will be returning to their schools, bringing what they learned at the summer institute with them into the classroom.
The board also welcomed Deidre Wilson from Rainy River High School as the new student trustee.
Belluz also extended a warm welcome to Mine Centre School which, effective as of Sept. 1, joined the RRDSB.
“I’m quite excited about the amalgamation,” he stated, pointing to school’s strong aboriginal background that will contribute and support the board’s own focus on aboriginal education.
Trustee Gary Allen, who serves as the representative for natives and all First Nations in the RRDSB, said he sees Mine Centre School joining the RRDSB as the start of a positive relationship.
Maintenance, custodial and construction workers were also busy with projects such as:
•The completion of demolition at J.W. Walker school so construction of the new gymnasium could begin;
•Refinishing hardwood gym floors at Northstar Community School, Rainy River High School, Atikokan High School, Fort Frances High School, and replaced gym flooring and game lines at Crossroads school;
•Painting and fixing up numerous classrooms, staff rooms, and entrances at several board facilities; and
•Inspecting and certifying all fire alarms, extinguishers, electrical panels, elevators and sprinkler systems