Director's Report...


Gord Ewin, Director of Education
. . . Achievements by teachers & students in 1999 / 2000
The school year 1999 / 2000 was the first year of our Literacy Enriched Activity Program (LEAP) in senior kindergarten and the second year of our New Look French Immersion. These programs, combined with our focus at the secondary level on high technology and other specialized studies in science, performing arts and an international program make our schools uniquely valuable to students.
Looking back on the 1999 / 2000 school year, I can see we made the right steps to position our schools in preparing students for an ever-changing world. Board achievements by our employees are best noted by the achievements of our students in scholarships and bursaries, found in the last several pages of this annual report.

Our achievements and significant decisions were as diverse as they were plentiful.

— Agreement with First Nations "really positive" —

First Nations and the Rainbow District School Board reached an historic tuition agreement for students of 11 First Nations in the district in April 2000. Rainbow board First Nations trustee Robert Beaudin explained the gist of the agreement well: "Previously, First Nations didn't have direct input. Tuition agreements were done by the federal Department of Indian Affairs on behalf of First Nations. But this agreement is directly between the Rainbow board and eleven First Nations within the district. This is a really positive step." The agreement is a commitment by the Rainbow board to form a joint committee of representatives of the Anishinabek Unified Educational Council and the board to examine issues related to the education of First Nations students and to make recommendations to the board of trustees and First Nations leaders on: curricula and instructional practices; organizational practices; linguistic issues; personnel equity; student achievement and retention; and school and community relations.

— Junior Kindergarten continued —

Trustees of Rainbow District School Board made use of new provincial funding to maintain a junior kindergarten program in all of our elementary schools for September 2000. It was maintained in a new form involving a 10-day cycle of three full days one week and two full days the following week.

— Rainbow students shine in Heritage Fair —

Rainbow board students from Gore Bay, Espanola and Sudbury won the privilege of competing in the national heritage fair in July, in Ottawa, as a result of how well their projects did in the Fourth Annual Sudbury Regional Heritage Fair, held at Laurentian University. The regional fair involved students from area school boards. Rainbow school winners, including first place's Adam Hayden from C. C. McLean Public School, took the top three awards at the regional fair allowing them to participate in the national fair.

— Tremendous scores on government tests —

Grade three and grade six students of the Rainbow District School Board improved their performance tremendously in Reading, Writing and Math in results of provincial government assessments released by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). This improvement is in large measure due to the work and dedication of our classroom teachers and a coordinated effort at the board level. The results show that Rainbow board students scored highest among all English-language students in Northern Ontario.

— Two schools closed —

Tough decisions by trustees in light of declining enrolment in the district and in the interest of maintaining the best programs were also part of the school year of 1999 / 2000. Following meetings and consultations with parents, Rainbow District School Board trustees decided to close two public schools effective June 30, 2000: Col. David Younger, in New Sudbury; and Arthur Robinson, in Sudbury's southwest.

— System-wide plan to start —

Trustees also directed board staff to develop a plan to reduce excess pupil places in the board's schools effective September 2001.

— Parents make it work —

School councils continued to flourish through the leadership of the School Councils Co-ordinating Committee and local school chairs. Involvement of our parents with teachers in our school events, such as Christmas concerts, plays, sports, clubs and more continued to improve the education experience for our students. Thank you to teachers, all staff, parents and students for making it so. I hasten to add that we plan to build on our successes and continue improving education for our students.