The vision of School District 59 is that 90% of students entering 
Kindergarten in the fall of 2013 will be reading, writing and using numbers confidently and competently, at grade level, when they enter grade 4 in 2017! Further, we have a vision that all students will be achieving to their fullest personal potential based on goals set forth in the individual instructional plans developed to address special needs.
This project involves an intense focus on literacy, numeracy, inquiry based learning and social emotional learning, which is based on current educational research. Other subject areas such as science and social studies will be integrated within the context of literacy and numeracy and not reported on separately. Teachers will be engaging in practices and ongoing professional development that supports this approach.
We are very fortunate to have Dr. Janet Mort, an adjunct professor and researcher from Vancouver Island University, working with us to ensure quality experiences for our students and in teachers' professional learning journeys. Also supporting the work of the classroom teachers will be the various District Helping Teachers for literacy, numeracy, speech and language development, and special needs.
A growing number of primary teachers are engaged in this project and here is what you will see in their classrooms:
- 120 minutes of uninterrupted time for literacy every day;
- numeracy and social emotional learning are the other focuses woven through;
- PE/Art/Music are integrated and if needed to be schedule will be in the afternoon;
- content areas are vehicles but note reported on;
- inquiry/activity based environment;
- and much enthusiasm for learning!
