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By rdnewsNOW Staff

Student Support rooms and more

Red Deer Public sets its strategic direction for the next three years

Jun 2, 2023 | 4:18 PM

Red Deer Public Schools District (RDPSD) has set its strategic direction after the Board of Trustees approved the Three Year Education Plan.

“The highest priority for our Division is the success of every student. Our focus is to ensure there is excellence in teaching and learning in every classroom across Red Deer Public Schools,” said Board Chair Nicole Buchanan after the approval on May 10.

“To ensure every student reaches their full potential, our three priority areas include Literacy and Numeracy, Equity and Student Success and Completion.”

RDPSD says seven proposed outcomes ensuring that all students reach their full potential will be supported by nine specific strategies.

One strategy includes implementing and professionally staffing Student Support Rooms in schools to provide additional supportive options for students experiencing issues such as dysregulation and anxiety. They say the rooms will be in most elementary, K – 8 and middle schools for the 2023/2024 school year.

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“These Student Support Rooms will be overseen by a full-time certified teacher, and will meet the needs of hundreds of students across the Division,” said Buchanan. “All students, no matter their age, grade or ability are supported in the Division, not just academically but emotionally, mentally and physically. The Student Support Rooms will be in addition to the various wrap around support services for students.”

A second strategy includes implementing a comprehensive bullying intervention plan, which includes initiatives involving the prevention of bullying, the intervention process when bullying occurs; and the collaboration between parents/guardians, staff and students.

District officials say the plan, which will be evaluated on an ongoing basis, will help Red Deer Public strive to continually improve its approach to addressing bullying in the schools.

“During our Community Engagement earlier this year, we heard from students at various grade levels that bullying is an issue in schools,” said Buchanan. “In response to hearing this, we will take a look at how we can prevent and provide further education about bullying. As we move forward in the upcoming school year, this initiative will involve students, staff and parents in terms of developing strategies of what this will look like.”

Work on the bullying intervention plan is scheduled to begin in the 2023/2024 school year.

Red Deer Public says they will also research and explore various models to more equitably redistribute educational funding to schools, with implementation to occur during the 2024/2025 school year.

“We have schools with varying needs in our Division, so our goal is to explore a different model in which educational funds may be distributed more equitably depending on each individual schools’ needs,” said Buchanan.