Sudbury Catholic District School Board

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The Sudbury Catholic Board Brings the World of the Classroom to the Vistas of Killarney

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The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is embarking upon a new initiative that will seek to support and expand the educational, cultural, and historical aspects of Killarney Village and St. Joseph Catholic School by establishing an outdoor education centre in the heart of the small community. The school board owns 7.24 acres of property associated with St. Joseph Catholic School and would serve as the host site for the centre.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board will be partnering with Killarney Provincial Park to offer programming that will be based on the Ontario Ministry of Education school curriculum and will add the bonus component of a unique Killarney experience. The centre will focus on outdoor education but will also offer students the opportunity to learn about healthy living, child and youth stewardship, values of faith, community studies, aboriginal teachings, ecological and environmental studies (focussing on how current practices influence the world around us and the sustain ability of resources in an ever resource hungry world). The ecology focus will extend across elementary through to secondary and even post-secondary opportunities.

The secondary opportunities would permit biology and geology students the opportunity to undertake actual field course experience that would better prepare them for making career and post-secondary choices. From the post-secondary perspective, courses could be developed that would support university courses (or be a direct part of these courses) in a broad range of disciplines, most notably ecology and geology.

Groups that have been consulted include Science North, the City of Greater Sudbury, FedNor, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, Laurentian University, Cambrian College, College Boreal, the Municipality of Killarney, several community businesses in Killarney, and many, many more. Some funding has already been committed to this project from outside sources.

The Sudbury Catholic Board has passed a motion at the January 20, 2009 board meeting supporting the position of Start Up Coordinator for the project and who will be starting this week. The start up coordinator will develop and implement a project plan which will allow schools to begin booking trips for this spring. Initially, the programming will involve Grade 6 Science, Grade 10 Science – (Grade 9 next year) and the development of an orienteering course that would be accessible for all grades.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is fully committed to the successful launch of the Outdoor Centre in May 2009. More information will be provided in the upcoming weeks.

Bartolucci Announces $6.2 Million for School Facilities in Sudbury

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The Ontario government is ensuring that students in the Greater Sudbury area will have safe and supportive learning environments by providing $6.2 million in new funding to local school boards through the Good Places to Learn program, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced.

“We continue to improve students’ learning environments in order to help them reach their full potential,” said Bartolucci. “By investing in education today we are paving the way for a stronger Ontario tomorrow. We see extremely high returns when we invest in our kids and when that happens, we all benefit.”

Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board thanked Mr. Bartolucci and the government of Ontario for the funding announcement under the Good Places to Learn program. “As we can all attest to, as our schools age and the costs of repairing and updating our buildings continues to rise it places a tremendous strain on school board budgets in order to ensure that our students have a safe, clean and healthy working environment,” stated McCullough. “Today’s funding will definitely help our board with the repairs to our older schools with respect to the purchase of new boilers, the repairing of roofs, replacements of windows and upgrades to our facilities especially our science labs and gyms.”

The funding announcement was presented at a news conference held at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Catholic Education Centre on January 19, 2009.

According to Bartolucci the investments in school infrastructure will strengthen the economy and create jobs and position students for success:

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board will receive $1,140,962 in funding under the fourth stage of the Good Places to Learn program.

Since 2005, the Good Places to Learn program has been improving the condition of schools in Greater Sudbury and across the province. To date, local boards have received over $57 million to undertake necessary projects:

• The Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Nouvel-Ontario, $14,670,031
• The Rainbow District School Board, $22,111,600
• The Sudbury Catholic District School Board, $14,698,966
• The Conseil scolaire de district du Grand Nord de l’Ontario, $5,819,670

The total provincial investment to date in the Good Places to Learn program has been $4.8 billion.

“The McGuinty government recognizes that building and improving school facilities creates safe and engaging places for our students to learn and grow,” said Bartolucci. “Every single project helps to strengthen our communities and supports the future of Greater Sudbury.”

Quick Facts

• Since 2003, more than 200 new schools across Ontario have been opened or are under construction, with plans for an additional 100 schools underway.

• To date, almost 12,000 renewal projects are underway or completed in schools across the province.

Accommodation Review Process Continues to Move Forward at Sudbury Catholic Board

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The Sudbury Catholic District School is currently undertaking the Accommodation Review Process in its North/West and South Central Planning areas. It is considered a best practise among school boards to hire a demographer that has the expertise in long term capital planning and enrolment projections. The board hired the reputable firm of Watson and Associates to assist with the Accommodation Review process under the following directives;

• to identify pupil enrolment projections and sustainable enrolment levels
• to Determine Capital Expenditures Needs and Costing Analysis
• to propose recommendations of Overall Accommodation Strategies

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Accommodation Review Process has been ongoing since September 2008. This process has been and continues to be an open and transparent process where information is shared with the public and their input is sought.

This Accommodation Review Process is outlined in legislation and is currently taking place in the majority of boards across the province. The final outcome of the Accommodation Review Process is such that the Accommodation Review Committee will make recommendations to the Director of Education. The Director will then in turn make recommendations to the Board.

It must be made very clear that no decisions can be reached until the integrity of the process has been carried out. The final decisions will be made by the Board’s Trustees by the end of May 2009.

Merry Christmas from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board

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The Sudbury Catholic District School Board would like to take this opportunity to wish all students, parents, teachers, and staff every happiness this Holiday Season.

May the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love be with you at Christmas and always.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Sudbury Catholic Schools!

Partners in Spirit: From the Desk of Director of Education Catherine McCullough (Vol. 2 Number 1)

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It is with great pleasure that we share with you the first edition of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board newsletter for 2008/2009, Partners in Spirit. The newsletter celebrates the many exciting events, initiatives and programs taking place at SCDSB.

View entire newsletter.

Transportation Cancelled, High School Games Cancelled, Schools Remain Open

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Due to weather conditions and in the interest of safety, all school
related transportation services for the English catholic, English
public schools, French catholic and French public schools operating in the District of Sudbury, Espanola and Massey are cancelled
today. All schools will remain open, however, NO transportation will beprovided. Parents who transport their children to school are reminded that they must pick their children up at the end of the school day.

In addition, all SDSSAA games are called off. Accordingly, all games scheduled for today will be postponed and rescheduled in the not-too-distant future.

Sudbury Catholic Board Elects New Chair and Vice-Chair at Inaugural Meeting

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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 2, 2008.

Jody Cameron, former Chair of the Board from 2001 to 2002 and Vice-Chair of the Board from 2002 to 2003 and for the latter part of 2008 will once again assume the position of Chair. “In my first term as Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board I was involved in a very quick learning curve,” stated Cameron. “As a Board we were faced with a number of challenging issues which we overcame quite admirably; the creation of a new Catholic Secondary School in Valley East, increased enrolment at Marymount Academy, the introduction of the One to One Laptop program, and the appointment of a new Director of Education, to mention only a few.” Cameron also noted that the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is in a very positive position given the fact that it has recently signed contract agreements with all four of the Board’s unions and that the Board continues to enjoy a balanced budget. “As educational leaders we share a deep commitment to improvement and will continue to pursue the many initiatives that are presently underway in our schools to enhance the school environment,” concluded Cameron.

Barry MacDonald will assume the role as Vice-Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. He was first elected as Trustee for the Board in December 2003 and has also served as Vice-Chair on a previous occasion for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board from 2004 to 2006. Mr. MacDonald is looking forward to his new position. “I would like to thank the members of the Board for placing their confidence in me in my position as Vice-Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board,” stated MacDonald. “Having been a Trustee for the Board since 2003 and also having served previously as Vice-Chair, I appreciate the fact that this Board never ceases in its attempt to create a better learning environment to improve student achievement,” noted MacDonald. “I look forward to working closely with our newly elected Chair, Jody Cameron, my fellow Trustees and Senior Administration to accomplish this goal.”

Sudbury Catholic Board Approves Contracts With Unions

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Trustees for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have approved contract renewals with all four of the Board’s unionized sectors.

The contract agreements for the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA), Elementary, Secondary and Occasional as well as CUPE Local 1369 have also been ratified by their respective union memberships.

All four sectors will see raises of 3 percent in each year of the four year contracts for a total of 12 percent overall. The salary increases are retroactive to September 1, 2008.
Board and Union representatives are extremely pleased with the contract ratifications as it will “ensure peace and stability at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and its schools for the next four years.”

Sudbury Catholic Board Supports United Way Centraide Campaign

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The United Way Centraide received some additional support to its 2008-2009 fundraising campaign from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s unionized and non-union staff at a recent board meeting.

United Way Campaign Chair, Jim Thompson approached Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board at the start of the campaign to become part of the United Way’s Campaign Cabinet team and to encourage Board members and staff to contribute to this year’s fundraising drive. Towards that end, the Board of Trustees passed a motion at the October meeting that would encourage all staff to contribute generously to this initiative. “OECTA Elementary Teachers, OECTA Secondary Teachers, Principals and Vice Principals, CUPE Members, Senior Administration, Secretaries, Board Support Staff, IT Staff and Managers will be asked to contribute a minimum of $2.00 per pay in order to assist in the ongoing support for programs that are presently in place at many Sudbury Catholic Schools,” stated Peroni. “It is incumbent upon us as leaders in the Catholic community to set an example and show our support for the United Way campaign and it is our goal this year to significantly increase the SCDSB’s staff participation rate.”

Since 1982, the United Way Centraide Sudbury and District has been raising funds for critical community needs. As one of the largest non-profit fundraisers of social and human services in the Sudbury community the United Way supports 60 programs and services designed to assist people in the City of Greater Sudbury.

The United Way Centraide collected a total of $ 2.2 million for the 2007-2008 campaign. This year’s goal is set at $2.4 million.

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