PRINCE ALBERT — School Divisions need to know what is happening in many areas. To this end the Prince Albert Catholic School Division Board of Education looks at School Division Achievement Data through something called a “Wall Walk.”
The board of education did their first Wall Walk at their regular meeting on Monday. The Wall Walk was delayed from October to November because of the election.
“We recognize the journey to graduation starts in pre-kindergarten and all of our staff have been very focused on trying to improve student learning and achievement,” Director of Education Lorel Trumier said.
The report from Trumier included faith, priority action plans including demographics and grad rates, mental health and well-being, reading and other topics. The division aligns with provincial targets in some cases but also has its own targets.
Trumier pointed to increases in reading results, improvements in the area of mental health and well-being, and graduation rates as highlights of the report.
“The work that we're doing in mental health and well-being is actually making a difference and that children are reporting that things are getting better for them,” Trumier said.
According to the data 70 per cent of students have a sense of belonging, which nearly matches the Canadian rate of 72 per cent. As well, 79 per cent of students reported that they had groups of friends who were positive and encouraged them to make good choices, the Canadian average is 80 per cent.
Trumier credited staff for making the difference as far as data was concerned.
“I think what you see there is a high functioning group of staff who build relationships with their students and their families, that's what's making a difference,” she said. “All of the data is (showing) we know how to do this. We know how to graduate our students. We know how to develop children with strong values.
“All of those pieces are pointing to (the fact that) we want strong contributing members of society, and we're preparing the next generation for their role in that.”
Grade 3 reading levels are another data point that is monitored by the province. The division has experienced challenges with that because of the COVID-19 pandemic and students not being in school. However, it was noted that the division is making progress.
Students in Grade 3 in 2023-2024 had 41.7 per cent of First Nations Metis Inuit (FNMI) reading at or above grade level, 65.3 per cent non-FNMI and a total of 41.5 per cent. Students in Grade 3 began school in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was still presenting challenges.
The graduation rates for Ecole St. Mary High School have met or outperformed the provincial results in all categories since the province started a growth plan in 2020 focused on eliminating the disparity between FNMI and non-FMNI students.
Roughly 67 per cent of Prince Albert Catholic School Division FNMI students graduate within three years of starting high school. That’s well above the 47 per cent three-year graduation rate for FNMI students across the rest of the province. For non-FNMI students, 98 per cent graduate within three years in the Prince Albert Catholic School Division, while the provincial rate is 92 per cent.
One area of growth and change in the division is in demographics. Of the more than 3,000 students enrolled in the division, there were 862 French Immersion students. The division is also seeing an increase in students in English as Additional Language (EAL).
Trumier said that the increase in EAL students is related to International newcomers. In 2023-2024 there were 439 EAL students enrolled compared to 237 in 2022-2023.
The division also has 1,374 self-identified FNMI students.
The faith aspect of Catholic education is important to Trumier and includes aspects such as liturgical celebrations in schools and social justice teachings.
The division completed 6,015 Catholic Social Teaching projects in 2023-2024 compared to 7.416 in 2021-2022.
Data examined by the school division included Social Justice, Liturgical Services Data and Faith Formation in the Faith category; Student Engagement included OURSchool Survey data, percentage of Grade 9 enrolling in Grade 10 and school attendance. Reading, Writing and Math included topics like Early Years Evaluation (EYE) and Math results Grade 1 to 9.
Monday marked the first time new trustee Jason Kopchynski had the chance to participate in a Wall Walk.
"I think it's important to really support Jason and coming on the board and understanding what the priorities have been,” Trumier said. “It gives the opportunity to demonstrate that and to articulate some of the work that we've been working on.
“It puts him in a better position to assist with decision making moving forward, so I think it's a very critical part of information that we need to share with all trustees, and it was especially nice to share that with Jason.”
The division collects student achievement data and received reports from the Ministry of Education and presented the accumulated data to the board.
