Count Us In! Grand Erie’s First Student Census Takes Place March 18-29

The goal of Grand Erie District School Board’s Multi-Year Plan is Success for Every Student. In order to achieve this, the Board must understand the needs of its students and their families.

To assist Grand Erie in learning about and understanding these needs, all students in Grades 4-12 will take part in Count Us In!, the Board’s first-ever student census, from March 18-29.

This initiative is being led by Grand Erie’s Safe and Inclusive Schools Team and has the support of the Board of Trustees, Senior Management and a host of community groups and organizations. It is also part of a larger initiative by the Ministry of Education and Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan.

“The census findings will help us better understand all of our student populations and school communities,” said Wayne Baker, Superintendent of Education, responsible for the Safe and Inclusive Schools portfolio. “It will also help us identify and eliminate barriers for students.”

The student census will be completed in class and feature questions that ask students about themselves and their experiences, both inside and outside of school. It is confidential and voluntary. All responses will be stored in a secure, confidential database that will only be accessed by authorized research staff. Individual student questionnaires will not be analyzed.

“We believe it’s extremely important for our student census to reflect all of the voices we have within our schools,” said Baker. “We’re encouraging all students to take part. The more responses we receive, the more reliable the data is and the more effective we can be in supporting all students moving forward.”

Grand Erie approved its Multi-Year Plan in 2016. At the centre of this plan is the goal of Success for Every Student. Included within the plan are six success indicators: Achievement, Community, Environment, Equity, Technology and Well-Being.

Grand Erie District School Board represents more than 25,000 students in 58 elementary and 14 secondary schools within the City of Brantford and the counties of Brant, Haldimand, and Norfolk.

Happy “new year”! I hope everyone had a pleasant summer holiday. It’s been nice to talk to students and parents this week about all the things you’ve done over the past two months. I’ve heard lots of stories of fun trips and relaxation. I’ve also heard a few about some more stressful experiences that life seems to always present. Whatever the past 2 months brought for you, I’m looking forward to working together again as a Boston School Family to support each other. September brings the opportunity for fresh starts and lots of reason for optimism. Each and every student is full of potential, and on a pathway that is their own unique success story (always in progress)!

This year you’ll notice that the staff is mostly the same with a few exceptions. Mrs. Huffman is off this year with her new baby. We would like to welcome Ms. Agius, who has joined us to teach the 3/4 class. We are excited to have her back as part of the Boston team! We would also like to welcome Mrs. Trembley as our new custodian. We are all in good hands with her making sure the building is in good shape!

On the first day, we had a Welcome-Back Assembly in which we committed to two very simple things this year: 1) We will always do our best

2) We will always be kind

I believe those two simple statements can guide every decision we make every day, and I’ve asked every Blazer to consider them when they are making choices.

Once again, welcome to a new school year. It’s good to be back!