Programs News

Hidden away in a pair of joined portables on the cusp of Britannia Secondary's property is one of the Vancouver School Board's most dynamic and inspiring programs.The Streetfront program is an active alternative program that puts a strong physical aspect to the curriculum; running three times a week, regular gym sessions, swimming and weight training, along with hiking, camping, canoeing, and Nordic skiing. In addition, Streetfront instructors teach their students how to run marathons.

Public/Private Partnerships aren’t new in many parts of the public sector. But in education, they tend to be incredibly rare. That’s why Brian Lee, the Director of Student Services at St. George’s School and Tamara Maxim, a teacher in Windermere’s Life Skills class, are particularly excited about a very special program they’ve developed together. This program connects St. George’s students with developmentally challenged students from Windermere’s Life Skills program. 

It’s time to take stock of what we offer and determine what programs and opportunities should be prioritized now and into the future in order to create the best possible learning environment. It’s a big task and a major part of the process is our new website called Our Future. The site has three sections: Your Schools, Your Community, and Your Voice.

Mackenzie Elementary elves were hard at work this holiday season as they cut, drilled, chipped and sanded wood toys for less fortunate students in their neighbourhood.

Late last week, Vancouver Technical Secondary School hosted the International Human Rights Day Student Symposium. The is the third year in a row that the IHRDSS has explored issues of human rights violation during World War II in Asia, such as the Nanking Massacre, military sex slavery, biochemical warfare, and Canadian Hong Kong Veterans as POWs.

Each month, Patricia Morris, a Kindergarten teacher at Renfrew School, teaches the children in her class about a different well known artist. Part of the exercise involves taking a piece of famous art and copying their style for their own work. Morris says her students always do a fabulous job.

Nestled off West Mall in the heart of the University of British Columbia is a small wood-paneled three story building that houses one of the Vancouver School Board’s most dynamic learning environments  – the VSB/UBC Transition Program. It’s a place whose alumni include the head of Microsoft’s Extreme Programming division, a 20 year old entrepreneur generating millions of venture capital for innovations in electronic communications, and a young Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UBC with a doctorate in Classics from Oxford.

This school year is off to a busy start with the Scientist in Residence Program. Fifteen Vancouver School District teachers began their collaborative work with seven partner scientists so they can prepare their 341 primary and intermediate students for a scientific experience that’ll give them a firsthand opportunity to see how fun and tangible science can be. The program is running in seven Vancouver elementary schools including Collingwood Neighbourhood (Bruce Annex), False Creek, Mount Pleasant, J.W. Sexsmith, Tecumseh, Laura Secord and Trafalgar

Two Gladstone students got to head to Ottawa, sit in the Parliamentary Gallery and witness their own special private member’s bill read in Parliament. The Bill, titled, “An Act Respecting a National Strategy to Encourage the Development of Renewable Energy Sources” got rousing applause from MPs on all sides of the partisan fence.