Sudbury Catholic District School Board

Director of Education Invited to Attend Education Leadership Summit

Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, Catherine McCullough has been invited to attend Apple’s Education Leadership Summit in San Francisco, California on April 10 and 11, 2008. According to John Couch, vice-president for Apple’s Educational Division, “The summit will provide opportunities for education executives and global thought leaders to convene and explore a new course of action for creating dynamic 21st century learning environments where today’s students can achieve and thrive.” McCullough will also participate in an “Executive Think Tank Session” which will provide the opportunity to network with peers, explore ideas with other thought leaders and to work directly with those on the front lines of change and innovation.

The Summit will also feature keynote speakers, Sir Ken Robinson, author of Out of Our Minds: Learning To Be Creative and Andreas Schleicher, Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division at the Directorate for Education in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, located in Paris. An invitation has also been extended to Angus King, former Governor of Maine who will speak about his personal story of leadership and the very successful program in Main which has empowered students across the state by placing a mobile computer in their hands for 24/7 learning.

McCullough has been invited as one of the select few Canadian Education Executives (one of ten Canadian Directors and one hundred American Directors) based on the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s extensive commitment to technology with respect to the introduction and rapid expansion of the “One to One” Apple laptop program in its elementary and secondary schools since 2002. “Education and the approach to learning have taken on a whole new dimension in the 21st century,” states McCullough. “Technology has quickly transformed the world around us. As a school board we decided to meet this challenge head on. In September 2006, we implemented a board wide one to one laptop program in all of our
Grade 7 and 8 classrooms, (a program unique to Ontario), as well as introducing the use of the ibooks in our junior grades.”

According to McCullough, one of the immediate benefits that was realized by the Board’s laptop program was its unique ability to provide teachers with the opportunity to align teaching activities to the interests, learning styles, and needs of all students in allowing them to be successful. The one to one laptop program provides opportunities to fully engage students in reading, writing, and visual literacy.

Easter Message from the Director of Education, Catherine McCullough

Easter is a time for hope, renewal of spirit, rekindling of faith and rejoicing in the triumph of the Lord. It is also the time to reach out to our loved ones and come together in prayer and celebrations and glorying in the miracle of Easter.

During this Easter Break, I encourage you to take time to rest, visit with friends and family and rejoice in the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection.

For God so loved the world,
That He gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him,
should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Wishing everyone a Blessed and Happy Easter!

Catherine McCullough
Director of Education
Sudbury Catholic Schools

Sudbury Catholic Board Places Schools Under Accommodation Review

In accordance with the its Pupil/School Accommodation Review Regulation BR 10, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is in the process of conducting an Accommodation Review for its South/Central and North/West family of schools. Schools were selected for review purposes based on their potential for growth over the coming years (given the present trend) and the possibility that they may qualify for funding to build new schools under the Ministry of Education’s Prohibitive to Repair grants. Sudbury Catholic Schools Director of Education, Catherine McCullough will recommend an action plan to Trustees on the meeting of May 6, 2008.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is committed to providing a full range of educational opportunities equitably distributed across a broad and diverse geographical area. Due to ever-changing factors such as mobile population, changes in funding, new legislation, changing in educational objectives, community aspirations and physical limitations of buildings, the Board is mitigated to monitor and evaluate all schools on a regular basis.

Given the present state of its priorities, the Board will be focussing its attention on the “South/Central” and “North/West” schools planning areas for the purpose of this Accommodation Review which will include the following schools;

South/Central Elementary:
Corpus Christi, Marymount Academy (Elementary),
St. Christopher, St. David, St. Francis, St. James, St. Joseph, St. Michael, St. Theresa

South/Central Secondary:
St. Benedict CSS, Marymount Academy (secondary)

North/West Elementary Schools:
Immaculate Conception, St. Anne, St. Charles (elementary), St. Mary

North/West Secondary:
Bishop Alexander Carter CSS

The School Accommodation Review may result in such changes as boundary adjustments, major additions, renovations and alterations to school buildings, blending or twinning arrangements for school organization and/or programs or school consolidations

The Board is in the process of informing parents, staff, school councils, and school communities of the logistics and time lines regarding its Accommodation Review. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board has hired the firm of CN Waston and Associates, (one of Canada’s leading economic firms) to prepare population, household, employment and student enrolment forecasts in the City of Greater Sudbury and more specifically in the planning areas of the schools under review. This information will greatly assist the Sudbury Catholic District School Board in assessing opportunities for long term growth and development and help guide the Board in the implementation of accommodation strategies that will serve to enhance student learning.
Accommodation Review Committees (ARC’s) will be created to provide the Sudbury Catholic District School Board with information re School Valuation Framework and applying this framework to the schools under review, giving consideration to the value of the students, community, school board and the local economy.

The members of the ARC’s will include representative membership from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, each school, school community and a municipal representative from each of the local municipalities in which the school(s) under review are located.

George Middleton, Chair of Sudbury Catholic Schools welcomes the Accommodation Review. “The Accommodation Review is a process that all Board’s in Ontario undertake in order to continually update their long term capital plans,” stated Middleton. “It provides our board with the opportunity to update student enrolment perspectives and assess long term capital expenditures to provide optimum programs and facilities for our students. This is the start of a year long process and decisions will be made only after an extensive review is conducted. Through consultation, a plan will be developed to benefit students and a business case will be presented for funding from the Ministry of Education whether it be for expansion of some schools or to build new school(s).

Partners in Spirit: From the Desk of Director of Education Catherine McCullough (Vol. 1 Number 1)

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the first Sudbury Catholic District School Board newsletter, Partners in Spirit. This newsletter is dedicated to celebrating the new and exciting
events that continue to take place at our Board and in our schools each and every day…

View entire newsletter.

SCDSB Elects New Chair and Vice-Chair at Inaugural Meeting

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board elected its new chair and vice-chair at the inaugural meeting of the board held at the Catholic Education Centre on December 4, 2007.

George Middleton will assume the position of Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. Mr. Middleton is serving his sixth term as Trustee and has held the position of vice-chair on two previous occasions. Middleton “It is indeed a great pleasure to assume the position of Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board,” stated Middleton. “Our successes as a Board are a tribute to the teamwork, cooperation and dedication of our students, parents, staff and partners in education. I look forward to continuing to build on these strong relationships and to working in concert with our partners in Catholic education to meet the challenges of the coming year.”

Paula Peroni is the Board’s new Vice-Chair having served previously as Chair of the Board from 1999 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2007. Mrs. Peroni is also the current vice-president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA) and the first vice-president of the Canadian Catholic School Trustees’ Association (CCSTA). “I would like to thank my fellow colleagues and members of the board for placing their confidence in me and allowing me to take on the role as Vice-Chair,” stated Peroni. “I will continue to use the experience and insights I have obtained as a Trustee with this board over the last ten years to champion the cause of Catholic education, not only at the local level but at the provincial and national level as well.”

“We Are Called”
Sudbury Catholic District School Board Celebrates Faith Day

Sudbury Catholic District School Board students, parents, teachers, vice-principals, principals, staff, trustees and clergy joined support staff from the SCDSB school communities in Faith Day celebrations St. Charles College on September 28, 2007.

This year’s theme “ We Are Called” was a celebration of community and Catholic education. In Catholic Education we are called on many levels, depending on our responsibility, but the foundation call for all of us — is the call of our Baptism, a call that is our common bond with the whole Church. The call of our Baptism is a call to discipleship with Jesus Christ.

View Slideshow

Student Representatives on Board of Trustees

T.J. Pugliese, a Grade 12 student at St. Charles College, and Matt Harris, a Grade 11 student at Bishop Carter Catholic Secondary School were sworn in as Student Representatives by Sudbury Catholic District School Board Trustees at a regular meeting of the Board on October 2, 2007.

T.J. Pugliese will assume the role as Student Representative for the 2007-2008 school year while Matt Harris will be the designated Student Representative Elect. Students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s four secondary schools will rotate through the position of Student Representative and Student Representative Elect with the latter learning from the former before assuming the role of Student Representative.

The students will act as ambassadors for their schools and will play an integral role in bringing the concerns and issues of their peers to the forum of the SCDSB Board meetings. Meetings of the Board are held on the first and third Tuesday of every month at the Catholic Education Centre and are open to the public.

SCDSB Students Continue to Improve on Provincial Test Scores

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) has released the results of the Grades 3 and 6 reading, writing and mathematics assessments and the Grade 9 academic and applied mathematics tests written by Ontario students during the 2006–2007 school year.

Officials at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board are pleased with the results of their Grade 3 and 6 students with both grades demonstrating gains across the spectrum. With respect to all Grade 3 students that wrote the Provincial assessments, student scores improved by 5 percent in reading (from 51 percent to 56 percent), 5 percent in writing (from 49 percent to 53 percent) and 3 percent in mathematics (from 56 percent to 59 percent). The Board’s Grade 6 students also showed improvement in the reading component (from 66 percent to 68 percent) and math component (54 percent to 59 percent) while maintaining an average of 58 percent in writing.

The positive trend in EQAO results was also demonstrated by the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Grade 9 students, scoring 76 percent in the academic math program
(5 percent above the Provincial average of 71 percent) and 56 percent in the applied program
(21 percent higher than the Provincial average of 35 percent).

SCDSB Results Over Time
Percentage of Students Meeting the Provincial Standard (Levels 3 and 4):

 
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
2002-2003
2006-2007 2002-2003 2006-2007 2002-2003 2006-2007
Grade 3 45% 56% 47% 53% 54% 59%
Grade 6 61% 68% 53% 58% 52% 59%
 
Mathematics
 
Grade 9
Academics
Applied
  2002-2003 2006-2007 2002-2003 2006-2007
71%
76%
27%
56%

(Source EQAO website, www.eqao.com)

Media ReleasePaula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is encouraged with the recent test results. “In the last five years our Board has witnessed an increase in the percentage of our Grade 3, 6 and 9 students who have met or surpassed the provincial standards in reading, writing and math,” states Peroni. “Numerous strategies have been put into place this year which we are confident will continue to yield positive results. The overall picture, which includes significant increases in our secondary schools is in line with our strategic improvement plan.”

Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is equally optimistic with the latest data. “Recent test scores of our students writing the
Grade 3 and 6 provincial tests indicate that we are on an upward trend,” states McCullough. “Our secondary school scores exceed the provincial average and we will continue to use our secondary schools as a model for best practices. The strategies that are working well in one school will be used in other schools to yield positive results. The Learning With Laptops program for Grade 9 math was introduced in the spring of 2005. As we enter year 3 of the program, with our new MacBooks we hope to see continued improvement.”

Marymount Academy Welcomes Students and Staff Back to School

Catherine McCullough, the new Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School stopped by Marymount Academy to chat with students, parents, teachers and staff at a BBQ held at the school to kick off the start to a new school year.

The BBQ and Open House afforded new students the opportunity to meet their teachers and tour the school while returning students caught up on summer activities and became reacquainted with their friends. The first day of class for the SCDSB’s elementary and secondary students begins on Wednesday, September 5 as Tuesday is a Professional Development Day for teachers.

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