Principal’s Message
Happy New Year & welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.
The 2018-19 Eagle View school year moves along at the speed of light. With the traditional new year focus on goals, the staff are reflecting on our common mission in building student success. In September, we reviewed our 2017-18 goals and decided, with some tweaking, that we wanted to continue with our focus in two areas. Our two focus points:
- To continue to develop students’ numeracy skills in computational fluency in the context of number sense. (Put in straightforward language— making sure our students not only can compute—add, subtract, multiply and divide, depending on grade level—but also that they understand the concept of what, why and how they are using numbers.)
- To extend students’ social emotional learning through the implementation of Second Step, a K—5 program that promotes school success, school connectedness and a safe, respectful school climate by “directly teaching students the skills that strengthen their ability to learn, have empathy, manage emotions and solve problems.”
The Core Competencies of the BC Curriculum further reinforce the importance of this journey in learning. Are you interested in finding out more? Perhaps you would like to see an overview video highlighting social emotional learning … one of several resources our staff has viewed over the last year. See the link in our attached newsletter.
In addition to these two goals, EVE staff recognize the importance of building our Fine Arts program. In two of our fall Professional Development Days, we tapped in on learning from the University of Victoria and from SD 61 colleagues who have specific areas of expertise. In September, Fine Arts Education Professor, Alison Shields, provided a morning exploring ways to enhance creativity through visual arts. In November, Phil Duchene, also an Education Professor, walked us through activities in drama and Gail Evans, a music teacher in our district, got us all singing and dancing as we looked at ways to enhance classroom music.
The fun and learning continues at Eagle View for both students and staff. A reminder that on January 28, there is no school in session for students. Staff, however, have chosen this day, specific to Eagle View, to continue our professional development related to the above areas.
On behalf of the staff at Eagle View, we wish you and your families the best in the year 2019.
Sincerely,
Lois Bender, Principal