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PUGWASH DISTRICT HIGH ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016 Chignecto Central Regional School Board

SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CONTEXT - WHO ARE WE?

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Pugwash District High School opened in the fall of 1958. It has always been a junior-senior high school educating students from grades 7-12. The first graduating class was in 1959. Prior to this, students had to finish their grade 12 in a larger community such as Oxford or Amherst. Additions were made to the original school with the addition of an annex that was completed in the mid 1960’s. In 1991, on the night of September 14, a disastrous fire destroyed much of the original structure. However, enough of the school was saved to carry on with the educational process. Within a fairly short period of time, a new gymnasium, cafeteria, laboratories, and classrooms had been constructed (1993). One of the unique features of PDHS today is the Jean Wallace Art Gallery, which opened in 1996. It contains many high quality works by well-known artists as well as our students. The school has also been the scene of some very important international events. It was the site of the internationally renowned Thinkers’ Conference. In 1997, at a special ceremony, Dr. Joseph Rotblat was honoured when the part of the new section known as “The Hall” was named the “Dr. Joseph Rotblat Hall”. Although the student numbers have declined in recent years, PDHS has always produced quality graduates, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers.

The PDHS SAC refocused its attention towards the desires of the governing board by participating in collaborative meetings, which took place this past school year. Our SAC is looking forward to engaging in conversations around policy development and revision to assist in the development of the new Strategic Plan. Our first meeting will take place in September and we will discuss possible feedback to the Policy B-07, Strategic Planning as well as items discussed at the Spring Regional Conference.

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SAFE and ORDERLY ENVIRONMENT

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT - HIGHLIGHTS OF YEAR

PDHS prides itself on high academic standings and ensuring all students are provided with the supports required to be academically successful. Our school also has a very long history of extracurricular success. Many championships in sports have been won at district, regional, and provincial competitions. A variety of clubs, groups, and committees also keep our students interested in their school and community. This year Restorative Circles were used in several classrooms to promote inclusiveness, a time for sharing, and focused learning.

First Annual Grade 12 Principal's Luncheon Our Grade 12 students enjoyed a five course meal while discussing proper dinning etiquette and other life lessons. Many skills were discussed to support our students as they enter the "Real World". Special thanks to our Home and School members who prepared, served, and shared life etiquette with our Students.

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Mapping Palmerston’s Cemetery Ms. Kewachuk’s Geomatic 12 students will be spending several classes in Palmerston’s cemetery this month as they record GPS coordinates for each stone and historical data that includes names, dates and military ranks. The information will be displayed in spreadsheets and added to Arcview maps. For Geomatics class, students will analyze the data and answer questions such as: What was average age in 1900s? What cultural groups lived in the area and how have they changed? This project will extend for several years, with the goal of sharing mapped data with national cemetery websites such as the ‘Cemetery Project’. Students can easily supply the GPS coordinate of the cemetery now. Soon, they will be able to identify the GPS coordinates and family name for every grave. Next year, students will visit other cemeteries to collect more data.

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Grade 9 Quebec Trip 2016 Our second annual Quebec trip took place with 19 student participants. The trip took place during the last full week of May and it was once again a great learning experience. Students visited a variety of destinations from the St. Anne Basilica, the Montmorency falls, and Old Quebec. Many of activities were enjoyed including a Ghost Walk, several museum visits, and the Quebec Aquarium. The trip also included some shopping in old Quebec as well as one of the largest shopping centres in Canada.

MADD Reality Check at PDHS! PDHS Youth Health Centre partnered with RCMP Cst. Dow and Cst. Galbraith to provide our students with a reality check when it comes to driving safely. In a simulated environment, students had an opportunity to experience driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, texting, and speed. To say the very least, our students were reminded first hand of the dangers of driving under the influence of anything. Thank you to Cumberland MADD for helping us save our student’s lives.

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Congratulations to Our Teachers! CCRSB Extends Congratulations to 2016 Education Week Award Winners! Mrs. Smith was honoured by receiving the 2016 Education Week Award. The 2016 Education Week theme is Media Literacy: Empowering Critical Thinking in a Digital Media World. Mrs. Smith is a professional, lifelong learner who continuously advances to prepare her students for today’s world. With a strong foundation teaching and using timeless literacy methods at her disposal, this experienced and dedicated teacher digitally incorporates her years of experience and professional development through today’s most current technology. She integrates various types of tablets and encourages her students to use their own personal devices in her classroom to augment their learning, to constantly instill critical thinking, and to actively engage students in respectful, responsible, and ethical digital citizenship. Janice has incorporated a Cloud-based practice into her class and has integrated Google Apps for Education into her courses; making her a technology leader in her school. She uses Google Classroom as a method to organize and engage her students to achieve the required outcomes; snow or shine!

CCRSB & The NSTU Extends Congratulations to The 2016 Excellence In Teaching Award Winners! The Chignecto-Central Regional School Board and the Nova Scotia Teachers Union accepted nominations for outstanding teachers who exemplify excellence in teaching. Students, parents, guardians, community members and educational colleagues nominated our outstanding teacher, Mrs. Duynisveld for a 2016 Excellence in Teaching Award. Every day across our school board, we have extraordinary teachers who go above and beyond to inspire our students in creative, innovative and effective ways. The Excellence in Teaching Awards recognize and celebrate teachers whose dedication to excellence provides our students with the skills necessary to prepare them for life-long learning and success. Mrs. Duynisveld certainly meets all of these criteria.

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

PROVINCIAL, BOARD, SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT AND CLIMATE DATA

During the 2015-2016 academic school year, PDHS was in its first year of the Student Success Planning (SSP) process. As a Staff we spent some of our PD hours reviewing various types of data in an effort to create both an Achievement and Performance Goal to improve our school as a whole. Once reflective Goals were established, we began working to create Strategies and Actions.

Technology continued to be part of our Professional Development sessions. With the purchase of more Chromebooks, we spent time discovering more Google Apps and possible ways to incorporate Google Apps for Education (GAfE) into our classrooms. Google Classrooms was implemented by the majority of our teachers in the majority of their classes. Students found Google Classrooms to be a great facilitator of their learning, solid communication tool with teachers, and a method to stay organized.

Achievement Data Reviewed:

• RWM6 (13/14_Current Grades 7&8s) – support for both Math and ELA cognitive analysis. o RWM6 13/14 – Wallace has no obvious strand for support o RWM6 12/13 – Wallace has no obvious strand for support o RWM6 12/13 – CEES has support for both Math & ELA cognitive analysis. o RWM6 13/14 – CEES has support for both Math & ELA cognitive analysis. o RWM6 12/13 – Northport/Wentworth insufficient evidence. o RWM6 13/14 – Northport insufficient evidence. o RWM6 13/14 – Wentworth has support for both Math & ELA cognitive analysis.

• RWM8 (13/14/15_Current Grades 9/10/11) – consistent support for Math cognitive analysis. o RWM8 14/15 - Narrative & Poetry supports Level 2/3 questioning strategies o RWM 8 13/14 - Narrative Strand supports Level 2/3 questioning strategies o RWM8 12/13 - Information Text is an area to monitor

Performance Data Reviewed: CCRSB Climate Data 2014/2015

• Resilience Score Grade 7 Mean for this school: 80% Mean for all grade 7 students: 79% School rank: 9.5 of 19

Item: “I feel like I belong at my school” Mean for this school: 74% Mean for all grade 7 students: 68%

• Resilience Score Grade 10

Mean for this school: 80% Mean for all grade 10 students: 76% School rank: 1 of 12

Item: “I feel like I belong at my school” Mean for this school: 63% Mean for all grade 10 students: 66%

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CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT & INSTRUCTION PRACTICES

ADDITIONAL SCHOOL SUPPORTS

The PDHS Youth Health Centre (YHC) was active again this year; the YHC was created in partnership with the Cumberland Health Authority. We were very delighted to maintain Michelle Richard as our coordinator every Wednesday, as well as to welcome Cst. Travise Dow to the Panthers Helping Panthers (PHP) team. Once again, with the YHC open to students they also had access to a Nurse Practitioner. Our school continued to offer a Breakfast program under the direction of our O2 students, which supplied such items as yogurt, granola bars, muffins, fruit, and milk. PDHS has a strong team of dedicated individuals who ensure a number of supports for our students, such as:

• Site Based Support Team

• Learning Centre Coordinator

• Guidance Counsellor

• Educational Assistants

• Librarian Technician

• Sports teams and Intramurals

• Clubs and Activities

• And of course, Mrs. Elliott in the main office! Outside of our school based supports, community members have come in to assist our students with their learning in such areas as pottery, music, and construction.

CCRSB is following the lead of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in the use of Achievement Levels throughout the terms and final grades are reported as a percent. Achievement Levels are a more precise method to inform students of their strengths and challenges within the course as related to Outcomes. For example, if a student receives a mark of a 1, the lowest level, for a particular Outcome, they have demonstrated a limited knowledge and understanding and are to review the content and concepts again. If a student receives a mark of 4, the highest Level, they have demonstrated they have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the content and concepts of the Outcome. Teachers have found this recording process very beneficial for students as they have instant feedback and are aware how to achieve greater success in the course. Some changes this year included the addition of three additional Achievement Levels, 1+, 2+, 3+. The now seven point Achievement Level assessment tool permitted teachers to provide students with an even more detailed indication of their strengths and challenges. Another change this year was moving from four terms to three terms for our students in grades 7 and 8. As you may be aware from conversations with your child’s teacher, the PowerSchool Public Portal provides a wealth of information regarding our students progress as well as their demonstrated Skills and Attendance. Please refer to our website (www.pdhs.ccrsb.ca) as well as the CCRSB website (www.ccrsb.ca) for updates regarding assessment practices.

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STUDENT SUCCESS PLANNING

Goal #1: By June of 2018, students will achieve an increase of 5% in Mathematics as measured by

internal and external data.

Strategies and Actions Implemented:

• Common Assessments: Grade 9 assessment created by a group of math teachers from three

different schools.

• Maker-Space: Accumulation of related technology, application for grants, preparing the

actual space, more technology to come.

• Problem Solving: Strategy posters printed for each classroom and discussing subject based

problem solving strategie.

• Increase of Math Support: Students were provided with small group concentrated math

support in a form of a Math Burst; provided by a math teacher in focused areas.

Data: Internal Base-line data (Grade 7-9 collaborative assessment) will be gathered in September of

2016. External data (CCRSB Grade 7 Assessment, RWM8, and Grade 10 NSE) will be used as a year

over year comparison.

Goal #2: By June 2018, to increase Resiliency by focusing on a sense of school belonging by

demonstrating an increase of 5% according to internal and external data.

Strategies and Actions Implemented:

• Increase Opportunities to Participate: PDHS received a Grant to purchase archery

equipment, a new table tennis table was purchased, and Breakfast for Learning program was

recreated and operated by the Options and Opportunities program students.

• Improved Communication: Current Media Team went to another school to collaborate on

best practices and more digital technology was implemented on a daily basis.

• Encourage Student Participation: Students Council reorganized the Monthly Assemblies to

include more students. A classroom in the school is being prepared to become the first PDHS

Campus Store were a variety of previously loved clothes and PDHS Spirit Wear will be

available for purchase or the exchange of Panther Points.

Data: Internal Base-line data (Google Forms and Advisory Groups) will be gathered in September of

2016. External data (CCRSB Climate) will be used as a year over year comparison.