Province gets more community schools

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Students, parents, staff and communities across the province will be in for some changes during this school year, as 42 schools make the transition to become community schools.

The plan to increase the number of community schools was announced by the provincial government on Sept. 26, bringing the number of community schools in Saskatchewan up to 83.

While the province's existing community schools were urban elementary and northern schools, this latest batch extends the community school program to include rural secondary schools, as well as increasing the number of urban elementary community schools.

Roseanne Glass is director of community education with the Department of Education. She said all of the communities where the schools are being converted into community schools have a high Aboriginal population.

The decision to place a community school in a specific area is based on four factors, Glass said. One of the factors considered is the number of First Nations and Metis people in the community. The other factors considered are unemployment, poverty, and the number of single parent families in the area.

But what makes a community school different than a traditional school?

If the community school model is fully implemented, Glass explained, "its doors are open from early in the morning until late at night, evenings and weekends. So it's open to community use. Some community schools have adult ed. programming, so that the parents of children who come to the school, and beyond, like community members, have access to adult upgrading so they can get their Grade 12, in some places. Community schools have what we call pre-kindergarten, and it's for three and four year olds. So it's a very broad programming.

"The learning program itself, and the culture and climate of the school is culturally affirming. And so there's a high degree of Aboriginal content in curriculum and in the school, and also use of many Elders for many different activities, and for everything from counselling to activities to role models, to ceremonies, to you name it," she said.

While adding so many community schools at one time isn't normally done, Glass said the decision to do so at this time was made "because it's really been recognized that community schools work, and that it's an approach that the government, not just Saskatchewan Education, but the government, is promoting.

"The other part of it, is it focuses on integrating services, which means that individuals and agencies, from social services, health, mediation, justice, you name it, are involved with the children and their lives to try and bring supports they need so that they can learn. So in that way its been recognized more broadly than by Education, but by government, that this approach really works, and that indeed, a holistic approach is always the best, as much as it can be achieved, in a public education system."

The schools being transformed into community schools received their funding for the transition in March, but they didn't start operating as community schools until the new school year in September. Even then, the transition to a community school is a gradual process.

"You don't just become a community school overnight. It's a long process. You need processes of community consultation. And so it's evolutionary, and it develops. And so while most of them have started on this road, who knows how long it'll be until it'll be full fledged. That takes time, and it's not something you can rush," Glass said.

"They're all existing schools. And so, we're asking them, challenging them, to transform. To be more responsive to kids needs in a broader way."

One of the best ways for staff to learn what it is to work in a community school is to learn from those who are already doing it, Glass explained.

"There's lots and lots of sharing, and working through some of the challenges. Because there are some that have been in operation since 1980. And so there's a long history.And to learn from those who have been at it for a while is really useful."

The amount of time it takes for a school to become a fully realized community school varies from school to school, and is dependent on a number of factors.

"It really varies," Glass said. "Some are well on their way by the time they officially get their designation. So the readiness has been there, and they've instigated a lot of stuff already. And in others it's completely new, so it takes a longer period of time."

Fay Stupnikoff, whom Glass calls "one of the mothers of community education," has been involved in community schools since they started up in Saskatchewan in 1980. Stupnikoff spent 19 years at Queen Mary community school in Prince Albert. Three years ago, she made the move to Wesmor community high school. Wesmor was part of a two-year pilot project to test the community school concept at the secondary level.

"What happened is, Queen Mary was a K to 9 school, and the kids were hitting high school, and here in Prince Albert, Carlton (Comprehensive high school) is where they were going. And it is a big, very large school, where they were kind of getting lost. So our drop out rate at the high school level was just astronomical," Stupnikoff said. The pilot project was designed, she explained, to try to keep the Queen Mary students from dropping out once they hit high school.

Wesmor is one of the schools to receive a community school designation under the program expansion.

"And we're absolutely thrilled," Stupnikoff said.

What does a community school have to offer that a traditional school doesn't?

"I think the most important aspect is the partnership," Stupnikoff said. "That parents and teachers and community all work together to do the best that we can for our children and our youth. And as we work together, it's the total child that is looked at. It's not just academic achievement. Academic achievement is what schools are all about - that's what we try to do. But it is moe than that. It's looking at the other student needs that really comes into play. And by all three groups working together, I think that we are able to achieve that."

The community benefits from having a community school, Stupnikoff explained, because it plays a leadership role in the school.

"When they're involved in the school, it's not like PTA or something like this where you organize hot dog sales and that kind of thing. There are community school councils, where people have a voice in what actually happens in the school. So it's very meaningful involvement that happens there."

Another feature of a community school is integration of services for the students.

"We have social services and mental health and public health, and justice, and education, all working together with our children. It's a united force. And so in a community high school, on any one day, you'll find the addictions workers in here. You'll find counsellors in working with our kids, the cultural advisor in here working with our kids, the public health nurse. Just a multitude of people. And for the kids, the school is their place of comfort and feeling part of things. So having all of these services in the schools really does help," Stupnikoff said.

Some people new to community schools may have some concerns about the changes, but those fears are unfounded, Stupnikoff said.

"There are some people that are frightened by it, that they think, they have the misconception, that academic achievements will drop. And that community schools are negative. There's no down side for community schools for our children and our youth. There's no down side."