Maitland District School is nestled in the Heritage Conservation District of Mait- land, NS. Although once a bustling ship building town, it is today a quiet rural village. The school was opened in 1962 at which time it housed over 150 stu- dents. During the 2013-2014 school year there were only 24 students. The stu- dents are divided into two multi-grade classrooms. Primary to Grade 3 students are in one class, with Grade 4-6 students in another. The school has 1.8 classroom teachers, a teaching principal, an AA and circuit teachers for gym, music and French. Declining enrolment and the underuti- lized space in the school has resulted in the school going through the School Re- view Process. In March 2013, CCRSB voted to keep the school open until June 2015 so that the community could have a two year period during which we would establish a Community Hub model at the site. During the 13/14 school year we waited for the guidelines from the DOE and CCRSB as requested, resulting in little work being done on the project. A request came from Minister of Educa- tion, Karen Casey, that the board extend our possible closure date by one year. In May the board voted to postpone this vote until March 2015, once the guide- lines were ready for us this fall. Our school community is very suppor- tive of our school. The public wants to keep the school in our community. The building is used for many after hours activities by community groups like Scouts, MDDA, CHART Society, Ju- jitsu, etc. Our motto is we are small, but we are mighty. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CONTEXT-WHO WE ARE SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL 2013-2014 was another challenging year for the Maitland Advisory Committee. The focus of our work this year was once again mainly focused on the School Review Process follow up. A great deal of time and energy was spent by the members of the SAC. We all needed to take a break and attend to our well being as a group. The mem- bers of the committee worked hard on our behalf and so it was decided to hold meet- ings this year at two month intervals while we were waiting for the DOE guidelines for our “Community Hub” proposal at MDS. We were disappointed that the board decided to postpone the vote on granting us another year free of closure threat as per the Minis- ter of Educations request. In July two members of our group were invited to attend an information sharing ses- sion on the new guidelines for possible realization of our “Community Hub” proposal. Our new group will be called the Maitland Community Hub School Association. In the coming year the SAC will be focused on helping develop a business plan for consid- eration. We were pleased that our school was accredited in January 2014. The growth shown on the two goals that were worked on (narrative writing and communication) attest to the hard work of the staff and students at our wonderful school. New goals have been established and a new round of Continuous School Improvement will begin in Septem- ber 2014 with the full support of the SAC. Inside this issue: School and Community Con- text –Who we are 1 School Advisory Council 1 Safe and School Environment 1 Assessment Results 2 Student Engagement 3 Professional Development 3 Additional School Supports 3 Planning for Improvement 4 Chignecto Central Regional School Board MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014 SAFE and Orderly Environment At MDS we promote the Virtues Project, PEBS, and Anti-Bullying campaign to help our students be- come compassionate and responsi- ble individuals. We celebrate suc- cesses at monthly assemblies. We offer a Safe Arrival Program, all doors are secure during school hours, and students are well pre- pared for code red, blue and black procedures. Our school feels like one big family that respects and trusts each other.
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MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014 · place three times per year on report cards and at parent teacher confer-ences. Student led portfolio conferences were held at the
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Maitland District School is nestled in the
Heritage Conservation District of Mait-
land, NS. Although once a bustling ship
building town, it is today a quiet rural
village. The school was opened in 1962
at which time it housed over 150 stu-
dents. During the 2013-2014 school year
there were only 24 students. The stu-
dents are divided into two multi-grade
classrooms. Primary to Grade 3 students
are in one class, with Grade 4-6 students
in another. The school has 1.8 classroom
teachers, a teaching principal, an AA and
circuit teachers for gym, music and
French.
Declining enrolment and the underuti-
lized space in the school has resulted in
the school going through the School Re-
view Process. In March 2013, CCRSB
voted to keep the school open until June
2015 so that the community could have a
two year period during which we would
establish a Community Hub model at the
site. During the 13/14 school year we
waited for the guidelines from the DOE
and CCRSB as requested, resulting in
little work being done on the project. A
request came from Minister of Educa-
tion, Karen Casey, that the board extend
our possible closure date by one year. In
May the board voted to postpone this
vote until March 2015, once the guide-
lines were ready for us this fall.
Our school community is very suppor-
tive of our school. The public wants to
keep the school in our community. The
building is used for many after hours
activities by community groups like
Scouts, MDDA, CHART Society, Ju-
jitsu, etc. Our motto is we are small, but
we are mighty.
SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CONTEXT-WHO WE ARE
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL
2013-2014 was another challenging year for the Maitland Advisory Committee. The
focus of our work this year was once again mainly focused on the School Review
Process follow up. A great deal of time and energy was spent by the members of the
SAC. We all needed to take a break and attend to our well being as a group. The mem-
bers of the committee worked hard on our behalf and so it was decided to hold meet-
ings this year at two month intervals while we were waiting for the DOE guidelines for
our “Community Hub” proposal at MDS. We were disappointed that the board decided
to postpone the vote on granting us another year free of closure threat as per the Minis-
ter of Educations request.
In July two members of our group were invited to attend an information sharing ses-
sion on the new guidelines for possible realization of our “Community Hub” proposal.
Our new group will be called the Maitland Community Hub School Association. In the
coming year the SAC will be focused on helping develop a business plan for consid-
eration.
We were pleased that our school was accredited in January 2014. The growth shown
on the two goals that were worked on (narrative writing and communication) attest to
the hard work of the staff and students at our wonderful school. New goals have been
established and a new round of Continuous School Improvement will begin in Septem-
ber 2014 with the full support of the SAC.
Inside this issue:
School and Community Con-
text –Who we are
1
School Advisory Council 1
Safe and School Environment 1
Assessment Results 2
Student Engagement 3
Professional Development 3
Additional School Supports 3
Planning for Improvement 4
Chignecto Central Regional School Board
MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014
SAFE and Orderly Environment
At MDS we promote the Virtues
Project, PEBS, and Anti-Bullying
campaign to help our students be-
come compassionate and responsi-
ble individuals. We celebrate suc-
cesses at monthly assemblies. We
offer a Safe Arrival Program, all
doors are secure during school
hours, and students are well pre-
pared for code red, blue and black
procedures. Our school feels like
one big family that respects and
trusts each other.
Page 2
MAITLAND DISTRICT SC HOOL
PROVINCIAL AND SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS
Student samples from Maitland are very small so this impacts our data. Scores for conventions are low in all 3 sections,
especially in RW6. This data as well as school data, and general observations by teacher and parents led to our new goal
for CSI (5% increase on writing conventions scores).
MDS students participated in yearly writing assessments during our first Accreditation Phase. Each individual student’s
overall score was determined by an average of the component scores of Ideas, Organization and Conventions
(consistently lower). This school data was used to help set our new phase two goal (5% increase on writing conventions
scores).
Maitland District School Results – Narrative Writing % met
# of stu-
dents
Overall % Ideas Organization Conventions
2010-11 25 52 60 40 48
2011-12 25 86 92 84 64
2012-13 23 83 91 91 64
Page 3
MAITLAND DISTRICT SC HOOL
CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
Teachers at MDS use a variety of assessment strategies to track student achievement Assessment takes place on a daily basis
and includes both formative and summative forms of assessment that include student portfolios, checklists and rubrics, student
conferences , quizzes and tests , peer and self assessments, anecdotal notes, reading records, etc. Teachers effectively differen-
tiate their instructive and use a gradual release of responsibility as the foundation for classroom practices.
Yearly planning and effective assessment practices are shared with staff
in collaborative PLCs. Reporting of outcomes and achievement takes
place three times per year on report cards and at parent teacher confer-
ences. Student led portfolio conferences were held at the end of second
term this year. At MDS it is important that students take responsibility
for their own learning. Teachers emphasize outcome based learning and
give timely and explicit feedback to students to help them achieve.
Assessment focuses on conversations, observations and products. This
year teachers used Gradebook to track student progress at least 3 times
per term in at least one subject area. IPads were provided to teachers this
year to help with on-the-spot PTGB assessment in the classroom during
classroom instruction.
For our new CSI goal in writing conventions, a school wide assessment
was administered to all students Gr. 1-6 in May 2014, using a writing
prompt generated by the staff and scored using a school created assessment based on the CCRSB Literacy doc. # 5: P-6 Writ-
ing Conventions. Baseline scores were tabulated. This template will be used in classrooms.
Our DOE surveys indicate that we need to work on matters of racial equity and cultural proficiency at MDS.
Many fun, enriching educational activities were offered to students during
the 13/14 school year. Students were involved in our annual Terry Fox
Marathon, Remembrance Day service, performances by Symphony NS,
Stadacona Band, Young Neptune and Mary Poppins at Neptune Theatre,
Donna Washington at Marigold Theatre, Pine Ridge Middle school Band,
Winter Carnival, two music concerts with our music teacher, 3 author vis-