SCHOOL STORY

Norquay is named after John Norquay who was the fifth premier of Manitoba and of proud Metis ancestry and is located on the ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm(Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation. Norquay is one of the largest elementary schools in Vancouver with 640 students. The population comes from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and has a multi-ethnic composition with over 28 language groups being spoken at home. The school building is wheelchair accessible and has three District Programs: Elementary Learning Support Program, Social Emotional Learning Centre and the Early Mandarin Bilingual Program. Norquay continues to be a collaborative early literacy intervention (CELI) school that focuses on literacy development and early intervention.

Norquay celebrated progress toward the Education Plan goals of student achievement, physical, and mental well-being, belonging, equity, and reconciliation in 2023/2024 by continuing to highlight community and intentionally supporting equity of access. Research shows that feeling a sense of connectedness to family, peers, school and community is one of the most important assets for a child’s well-being, health and success in life (Masten, 2018, Thomson et al., 2018). Therefore, most events at Norquay are by donation, to remove barriers and allow participation by all. Norquay organizes events such as the annual book exchange, Scholastic Book Fair, and extra-curricular sports teams, including soccer, basketball, volleyball, track and field, cross country, and badminton. Students continued to strengthen citizenship by participating in many of the leadership activities offered which include playground leader, office monitor, library monitor, morning announcements and lunch-time buddies. This year the students created a new leadership club focusing on equity and diversity.

Norquay has a dedicated staff who provide an academically and socially rich environment for students by developing and highlighting the many talents and strengths of each student. As a staff we also work closely with the community to further connections. The Rotary Club, Growing Chefs, and the One to One Literacy Volunteer program are well established in the school. This year Norquay added relationships with Adam’s Apples, the Firefighters Snack Fund and Lunch Lab. Norquay is also supported by the Windermere Community Schools Team, which provides programs after school as well as during school breaks. To further build community and connection the Norquay Parent Advisory Council (PAC) offers many exciting events including an annual waffle breakfast, pizza days, family movie nights, and the Norquay Spring Fair. This year the PAC organized a Welcome Back Barbeque by donation, which was attended by almost 75% of the school population.

Norquay Elementary continues to have deep connections with the strong group of Norquay alumni. This year’s highlight was an evening open house to celebrate Norquay’s 110th birthday. Over 400 former students and staff, representing every decade from the 1930’s to present, joined together to reminisce and swap stories about the

proud history of this great school and community. Events like this build the connection from the past to the present looking ahead to the bright future.