Beurling Academy 2009/2010 Annual Report

Transcription

1 Beurling Academy 2009/2010 Annual Report Preamble by the Principal This year has seen a continuation of programs and events that continue to be a part of our traditions, as well as many new initiatives, in the domains of both academic and student life. Change has to be discussed and studied carefully, and I believe the changes we have implemented this year have really improved the environment at Beurling. One example would be the contributions of our School Marketing Committee, which is a sub-committee of our Governing Board. Chaired by Mr. Andrew Henry, it has studied what we believe in as a school, how we can share it with our community, and how we can use it to promote our school in the future. One initiative that came out of the committee was the decision to ask Governing Board to approve changes to the school uniform and logo. Based upon data we obtained from our What Did You Do In School Today survey, we learned that students did not have a very positive opinion of our current uniform. While there are always conflicts that arise with any change, we feel confident that this change will serve us well in the future, and the committee will remain active in helping with Open House, revitalizing our Home and School, and many other areas. As the board is responsible for updating its Strategic Plan this year, we are also required to plan our direction for the next five years along the lines set out by the MELS. As a NANS school, we have always been asked for a comprehensive report on what our goals and targets have been. This year, Beurling was also designated A Beacon School, Un Ecole Phare, by MELS, as a school that has been successful at meeting the needs of all its students, and this designation allows us to meet with other schools and discuss ways to keep engaging our students. With guidance from Ms. Matheson, we really have involved the staff in the exercise of working on our plan. A sub-committee of staff council, which includes administration, teachers, and support staff have met on numerous occasions, and held three school-wide meetings in the library to firstly introduce, and then begin to use the board s template to map out the direction we want to continue in. Major school change was an area in which the Governing Board was extremely active in collaborating on, and then presenting a brief. One major focus was the increase in the profile of French at school, and our course offerings for next year clearly reflect this change. We also worked closely with the Adult/Vocational sector in preparing a future in which part of our building is available for training not currently available in our community. While the implementation has been put on hold, the groundwork is all done. There were many visits to consultations and public meetings by members of Governing Board, the administration, and staff members, and this commitment and effort has really helped communicate our priorities. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of life at Beurling continues to be the willingness of staff and students to become involved. Mr. Adrien has an increasing number of students who show at school on Saturday mornings for breakfast and remediation. The numbers of clubs and opportunities to become engaged keeps increasing. Our percentage of students on suspension has decreased to amongst the lowest in the board, as our entire staff has shown a willingness to work with our students, and deal with our problems. It has really been a year where Believe and Succeed has permeated the everyday life in our school.

2 Celebration of Success There were many instances this year where we opened our doors to community groups. Our local elementary schools made many visits to Beurling. Riverview s Community Learning Center joined us for a Literacy Evening, in which Ms. Staniforth s students presented Imagine: an evening of spoken word, theatre, dance and song, dedicated to literacy. Our music, theatre, and dance concerts continue to grow in creativity and attendance. Both Verdun and Riverview have visited to use our pool. We continued our tradition of participating in the Culture in the Schools Program, and Ms. Benjamin s art students participated in the creation of a beautiful mural in the 1B hallway, which is very close to completion. Mme. Cote s and Mme. Alarie s secondary 4 students participated in an exchange program with Ecole St. Bruno, in which 90 students from both schools took turns practicing English and French, as well as making new friends, in each other s schools for a whole day. One program which should produce a very interesting exhibit in the fall, was the residence of the artists from Libre Comme L Art, who visited us every Monday, as well as took out our Sec. IV IB class to their studios. They are in the final steps of preparing a multi-media depiction of Beurling Academy that will be presented at a Maison de Culture in the area at the beginning of next year. Our leadership students had an extremely active year starting with the BBQ they helped organize for the incoming Secondary 1 students, a grad car wash, pep rally, the seasonal dances which were all well attended, the Halloween, Christmas and Valentine s Day activities, the Urban Rainbow Fashion Show, and many other activities. Our students had an amazing choice of trips to go on this year. The Secondary 1 s went to Quebec City, the Sec. 2 s to Toronto, the Sec. 3 s to New York, the Sec.4 s to Quebec and the Sec. 5 s had grad ski at Mont. Ste. Anne. There was also Stratford and Mme. Cote and Mme. Blaise are taking a group to Spain this spring. There is a good sized group signed up for Europe next year as well. On a more local level, we were able to send each grade level on a cultural outing this year. The Sec. 1 s saw A MidSummer s Night s Dream at PAC, The Sec. 2 s went to the Montreal Museum to see the Tiffany glass exhibit, the Sec. 3 s went to the Eaton Centre to see the Body Exhibit, the Sec. 4 s had a play come to them in the auditorium, and the Sec. 5 s went to the Centaur. A real measure of success at our school is the number of opportunities we give our students a chance to make a difference in the world, and the enormous support and participation they bring. Our IB students have a certain amount of hours of community service they are responsible for, but all the events are open to all students, and the participation is evenly spread across all programs and grade levels. Some of those opportunities this year were: The Run for the Cure, which raised $ and saw many students and staff participate at Parc Maisonneuve, as well as The Terry Fox Run, in which the whole school made a tour of Verdun, with the help of our community police service. The 30 Hour famine, which saw 75 students, and many staff under the organization of Ms. Liste sleep over at school, while raising close to $5000. Operation Christmas Child and Free the Children Holiday cards On Tuesday, November 16th, 2009, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society hosted a kick-off assembly about their Pennies for Patients Program for all of the Cycle 1 students. Cycle 1 students in the Ethics and Religious Culture classes collected change for this organization over a three week period. Students were encouraged to participate in a Chores for Change Contributing to our Community activity. In their spare time, junior students offered to complete tasks in return

3 for a donation. Chores ranged from shoveling snow, washing the dishes, cleaning out the basement cabinet, painting, carrying grocery bags, gift wrapping, etc. As a result of their volunteering effort, the students found this activity to be a rewarding experience. This initiative reflects the QEP s broad area of learning, Citizenship and Community Life. A guitar hero was held at Junior and Senior lunches during the week of November 30th. It was a success with profits benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. After three weeks of collecting all of the change which included a huge amount of pennies, it was time to roll and count everything. Cycle 1 students, with help from the Secondary III Community Leadership class, counted and rolled all of the change. In just three weeks, $ was raised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Our annual school-wide food drive for Share the Warmth was a success. Maria Kastelorizios Secondary III homeroom collected the most non-perishables (approximately 300). On Friday, December 18th, this homeroom was treated to a lunch from Subway and Hits F.M. also was present to give out prizes to the students. Our school collected approximately 930 non-perishable items for Share the Warmth. For the second year in a row, the Secondary One and Two students Ethics and Religious Culture classes participated in a Socks for Pops Drive. The students generously bought new pairs of socks which were donated to Father Emmett Johns ( Pops ) of Dans La Rue. In just three weeks, 255 pairs of new socks were collected beating last year s total of 194. The socks were distributed to Montreal s disadvantaged youth during the winter. On Friday, December 11th, 2009, one of the coldest days of the year, the Secondary III Community Leadership class visited the Welcome Hall Mission. The students volunteered by filling bags of falafel mix as part of the preparation for the organization s upcoming holiday food drive. The falafel mix, as well as bags of hygiene products, toys, food and supplies, are given out to Montreal s underprivileged individuals and families. In two hours, the student-leaders managed to fill one enormous box. The students also received a tour of the Welcome Hall Mission and were given some background information about the variety of services which are offered. One of the most interesting initiatives was the participation of Ms. Dixon s and Ms. Magotiaux s Sec. IV ERC classes in the Youth Philanthropy Project. After a grade level assembly in which the students were introduced to the project, they had to form groups, visit the charity of their choice, and then present the charity to their classmates, as well as judges from the community, explaining why their charity was deserving of a $5000 grant from the organization. The winning charity was Oasis Care Centre, but all the students were winners for the valuable lessons they learned about giving back to the community.

4 The Well Project Fundraiser, organized by Ms. Reynard, and spearheaded by her Sec. 5 Contemporary World students, used a variety of fundraising techniques to raise the $7000 necessary to dig a well in Africa. The effort is only a few hundred dollars away from reaching its goal. We also had many assemblies, guest speakers, and special events including: Officer Glenn Henden visited Cycle 1 ERC at Beurling Academy. Over a three day period, Officer Glenn Henden, a Socio-Community relations officer with Station 16 in Verdun, visited all eight Cycle I Ethics and Religious (ERC) classes at Beurling Academy. Officer Henden engaged the Secondary I students with a presentation that covered themes such as: taxing, bullying, victimization, threat and intimidation. These themes were reinforced with a film entitled, Tax. As for the Secondary II classes, Officer Henden covered Drug Education/ Awareness. The students were educated about the types of drugs, their categories as well as their side effects. 38 students from the Secondary I and II ERC classes at Beurling Academy won The Creative Communication Essay Contest. Their creative essays were published in the fall 2009 hardbound anthology called Celebrating what is Important to Me. We were also the winner of the Fall 2009 Writing Achievement Award. The school got the Writing Achievement Award as more than 15 students won from the school alone. This worthy endeavor is sponsored by an organization called Poetic Power and their motto is Essay Rules. Our Cycle 1 students were treated to a special performance by Alan Shain, who is an actor, writer, stand-up comic and disability activist who has Cerebral Palsy. Alan s play, Still Waiting for that Special Bus is a semi -autobiographical story about a man who is getting ready for his date. However, he is dependent on the accessible bus which has to pick him up. Alan not only entertained all of the cycle 1 students but also provided the students with a greater awareness of the types of obstacles that disabled people face every day. On Wednesday, February 10th, 2010, Lorraine Klaasen and her band, Soweto Groove, were invited to perform during Beurling Academy s Black History Month Assembly. Absolute Leadership Development presented Think Day, a motivational presentation during a school-wide assembly on Wed. March 24 th. The students and staff enjoyed the 1 hour presentation. The high energy motivational experience included a large sound system, light show, powerful videos featuring character values such as Respect, Love and Perseverance, guest speakers sharing personal stories, a live band and crowd participation. Math Olympics, in which we hosted 11 elementary schools in a very active and fun evening. Our student ambassadors and staff organizers did an excellent job. Athletics We are coming to the end of another successful year in sports at Beurling Academy. Our athletes brought home championship banners for Juvenile Boys Touch Football and Juvenile Girls Soccer, as well as medals in track & field and wrestling. Our track athletes were very successful with indoor winning 8 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze, and outdoor winning 7 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze. Our wrestling team won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. We were represented in the championship game by our Boys Indoor Soccer and Midget Boys Basketball teams. Sportsmanship awards were presented to several teams throughout the fall, winter, and spring seasons. In addition to our after-school sports, this was the first-ever year for intramural ball hockey and indoor soccer leagues at Beurling. The leagues promoted school spirit and a little friendly competition between students and teachers. Overall, a great year for all Bobcat athletics!

5 Student Council Activities This year we have combined our junior and senior councils to make one, with Mr. Rougeau and Ms. Baylis working primarily with the seniors and Ms. Beach with the juniors. They meet on a regular basis to discuss activities and they have made a real impact on our school as they develop their leadership skills. Some of the activities they ran this year included: A Hallowe en bake sale and a Guess how many candies in a jar contest. A Valentine's Bake Sale as well as a a Send your crush a "Crush." Students sent their Valentine or crush, a can of Crush (soda) for $1.00 to be delivered. Each staff member was treated to a can of Crush as well. Council received a $ grant for submitting a proposal for their Youth Coalition Against Smoking Project. The Free from Smoke Flag Contest was held for the entire student body. There were two winners per grade level. The grant was used to purchase $25.00 Gift Cards for Future Shop. 12 students attended the 2010 LBPSB Board Camp LOST on April 28 th, 29 th and 30 th. The students enjoyed the workshops, guest speakers and activities. They returned with many creative ideas for school activities. Birthday Cupcakes. A new initiative this year was to recognize each and every student (including staff members) with a cupcake on their birthday. Students baked, designed and decorated each cupcake. Thank you to the Home & School for their support and Ms. Dorothy for singing to the whole school during each delivery. Our new student council mission states: The mission of Student Council shall be to serve the student body of Beurling Academy, voice the opinions of the students to the administration and Lester B. Pearson School Board, to train students in leadership, and to aid other school organizations. Students should serve as leaders for the student body, sponsoring and organizing social activities and school/community service projects. Students are to serve as role models and ambassadors to the community-at-large, representing the highest standards of conduct and character. Throughout the year we are pleased to report that our council stayed true to its mission and has produced dynamic leaders who have served our school well.

6 Implementation of the School Success Plan We have made improvements to our delivery of our French program ahead of the schedule as outlined in the MSC. This year, our Secondary 3 has two sections of Histoire, and our Secondary 5 has three sections of Monde Contemporain. We will continue this next year with our Secondary 1 and 2 regular students having French 8/6 periods, and we will be moving Histoire into Secondary 4. We have continued to pull students out of certain options for remediation in the Resource Room. We have also added a new Special Ed. technician this year, Ms. Anne Hudson, who will be joining us again next year. We have a first period skills class for students in Secondary 2 who need a stable environment to start their day. The program, run by our Planning Room Tech, and our FSSTT support, Amy Dorais, combines physical activity and study skills, and has greatly reduced the number of discipline problems for the students who participate. We are continuing our one year semi-skilled program under the direction of Steve Leroux, and also giving some students the opportunity to be a part of our Work Oriented Training Path, which is a 3 year program. The 15 students involved had 3 days of academics, with a Phys. Ed. class very day. We will also continue our cook s helper program in which they learn food service skills. The Elite program, which is comprised of 15 students at the Secondary 3 level enjoying smaller class sizes and fewer teachers will be continuing for students coming out of Cycle 1 who have been identified as at risk. Privilege, which is a continuation of the Sec. 3 program, is slightly expanded to 20 students, and will focus on the same students using the same principles to prepare students for attaining high school leaving credits, will also be continued. Our Robotics/Wood option at the Secondary 3, 4, and 5 levels was very successful, and many students have signed up again for next year. We will also be offering Literacy as an option for Secondary 4 and 5, as a compulsory option for students in our Elite and Privilege program. As we seek to enrich as well as remediate, Mr. Lindner as started an honour band, which meets once a week after school.