Please note that pending a review, the Ubuntu project has been suspended. Please direct any questions to info@langleydpac.ca.
DPAC
BCCPAC Resolutions 2015
The BCCPAC is having its Annual General Meeting on May 2-3, 2015
Please click the following link for a list of all Resolutions for the year 2015.
A community gathers in support of Langley Secondary School
Snipperts from the LSS Community Consultation Meeting – Feb 10, 2015
Approximately 200 people turned out to listen to what everyone had to say about the potential impact that would be seen if Langley Secondary School saw its school close down and it’s community disrupted. There were 6 School Trustees in attendance at the meeting.The following are snippets that were taken from the speeches that various students, teachers and parents had during the meeting that was open to everyone:
Karin – Student:
“We see education as a way to a better future. But Canadian education has not been easy; learning English, supporting themselves, etc.”
Johnathan Dyck, teacher & parent:
“Democracy is more than voting…it is this stuff.”
Shelly Rand, metal teacher, Langley Secondary School:
“I feel education in the trades open many doors for students, such as LSS (Langley Secondary School) can offer. Students need access to these trades.”
It seemed that everyone present at this special meeting was hoping to keep LSS (Langley Secondary School) open or were in support of having LSS represented in their community in some shape or form.
EdCamp35 Is Coming Soon
Our second annual EdCamp35 is being held on Saturday April 18, 2015 at RE Mountain Secondary in Langley, BC. Join other passionate educators for a day of connecting and learning!
For further information, please visit www.edcamp35.com
Long Term Facilities Plan Update, Nov 26, 2014
Quicklinks:
* Community Consultation & Information Meetings
* Video Message from Superintendent of Schools
* November 24 Small Group Consultation Meeting
* November 24 Small Group PowerPoint Presentation
* Long Term Facilities Plan and Five Year Capital Plan
Long Term Facilities Plan Community Consultations:
Langley Secondary and R.E. Mountain Catchment Communities
December 2 & 3, 2014
Langley School District is reviewing options for the implementation of the Long Term Facilities Plan that affect the Langley Secondary and R.E. Mountain catchment communities and are therefore holding information sessions.
For the LSS family of schools:
Tuesday, December 2 at H.D. Stafford Middle School and start at 3:30 & 6:30
For the REMSS family of schools:
Wednesday, December 3 at R.E. Mountain Secondary School and start at 3:30 & 6:30
The purpose of the information session is to provide the community with an overview of the Long Term Facilities Plan recommendations and the implications of possible scenarios upon implementation.
To provide written input on the Long Term Facilities Plan and its implementation please address correspondence to:
Office of the Secretary Treasurer
Langley School District
4875 222 Street,
Langley, BC V3A 3Z7
or email feedback@sd35.bc.ca
Superintendent of Schools Suzanne Hoffman provides introductory remarks about the consultation process (3mins):
November 24 Small Group Consultation Meeting
About 60 representatives from DPAC and the most-impacted communities assembled for a small group consultation meeting on November 24th. The process stems from an October 2nd meeting with DPAC that suggested a small group meeting precede a larger group meeting in order to provide feedback. Feedback is to be incorporated from the November 24th meeting into the presentations on December 2nd and 3rd in the affected communities. After the large group meeting, the information will be distilled back to the smaller group to help formulate a recommendation that can be presented to the Board of Education.
Examples of valuable input so far in preparing for the larger group meeting include:
- More information needs to be made available on financial impacts.
- More information needs to be made available on transportation options and impacts.
- Reduce the use of ‘lingo’ and abbreviations in order to make the information more accessible and clear.
- What is the timeline for completion of the options provided?
- Connect the options so that the effect of one option on another option is clearly indicated.
- Address what will happen in the short term once an option has been decided upon?
Feedback from this meeting and from the greater District community is continuing to arrive – send us your input via email at feedback@sd35.bc.ca
PowerPoint Presentation from November 24 Small Group Consultation Meeting
To read the complete PowerPoint presentation, click here or on the image above (PDF).
District Long Term Facilities Plan and Five Year Capital Plan
At a Special Meeting on October 9, 2012, the Board of Education approved the District Long Term Facilities Plan which represented the beginning of an ongoing dialogue with our school communities. The plan contains sixteen recommendations (see summary below) and was used to inform the District’s Five Year Capital Plan for 2012-2013 which was approved at the October 23, 2012 Regular Meeting of the Board. The complete plan and appendices are available for download below.
District Long Term Facilities PlanAppendix A – School Facilities
Appendix B – CP3 Summary Enrolment Projections
Appendix C – Headcount Enrolment Projections by School, by Grade, and by Program
The Board also requested that staff develop a plan to implement the recommendations of the Long Term Facilities Plan which includes a process to update the plan on an annual basis in support of the District’s Annual Five-Year Capital Plan submission to the Ministry of Education.
The following is a summary of recommendations in the Long Term Facilities Plan.
It is recommended that School District No. 35 (Langley):
1. Engages the appropriate stakeholders in processes to determine the preferred long term enrolment, grade configuration, and site locations of District, Alternate, and Career programs, and that the outcome of the reviews be incorporated into future capital planning.
2. Commences a stakeholder consultation process to discuss middle grades education with a potential follow-up process on middle grades configuration for the Brookswood, D.W. Poppy, and Walnut Grove areas.
3. Initiates a process to explore possibilities on the use of underutilized classroom space at Aldergrove Community Secondary School.
4. Engages the Langley Secondary community and other stakeholders in a process to develop a Strategic Plan to determine the preferred long term educational programs, enrolment, and site location.
5. Explores potential School / Community Services relationships / partnerships in schools that have surplus space as well as in planned new schools.
6. Develops a Strategic Plan to determine the preferred long term location for Glenwood School based upon the Brookswood / Fernridge Community Plan update.
7. Considers the number and location of schools required for the Brookswood Secondary area based upon the Brookswood / Fernridge Community Plan update.
8. Plans for schools in the Willoughby area based upon evolving development trends and their location.
9. Plans to relocate Willoughby Elementary School to a more appropriate site to accommodate proposed development in the area and develop an expression of interest for redevelopment of the existing site.
10. Plans to build an elementary school on the James Anderson Learning Centre site in the Five Year Capital Plan and plan to relocate the James Anderson Learning Centre to a different location.
11. Plans for an addition to R.C. Garnett Elementary in the Five Year Capital Plan.
12. Plans for a new secondary school in the Willoughby Area in the Five Year Capital Plan and with the intent to convert the existing R.E. Mountain Secondary School to a middle school upon completion and occupancy of the new secondary school.
13. Plans for four (three elementary and one secondary) new school sites in the Five Year Capital Plan.
14. Undertakes further investigation in consideration of Ministry of Education Mechanical System Upgrade Program applications for some schools.
15. Determines if the old Bradshaw, County Line and Murrayville schools, and the undeveloped Route 32 school site, are required for educational programs and / or services and, if not, dispose of the facilities and sites.
16. Uses the Long Term Facilities Plan as a strategic framework and support document for the Five Year Capital Plan, as per Ministry of Education capital planning requirements, with consideration for regular updates as required.
Vision Statement
As an integrated component of the Board of Education’s strategic planning process, the Long Term Facilities Plan will enhance student learning by supporting educational programming initiatives and addressing changing demographics within an equitable and financially sustainable framework.
Long-Term Facilities Guiding Principles
Board Strategic Planning Principles and Priorities:
Enable implementation of the Board’s goals and priorities in the Long Term Facilities Plan.
Educational Program:
Enhance student learning by creating and / or supporting viable and effective programs in appropriate locations.
Enrolment – Capacity – Utilization:
Maintain appropriate sized facilities that will accommodate changing enrolment and educational programs over the next 10 to 15 years.
Facility Costs:
Strive for increased efficiency in operational and capital costs.
Administrative Costs:
Optimize administrative costs within the available funding
Collaboration Day Tomorrow – Please note
Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow, October 26,2014 is a collaboration day within the School District of Langley. All schools will start 80 minutes later so that teachers may begin their collaboration time together. Enjoy the extra time with your children!
Behind closed doors at the Langley DPAC week 4…
How we could make the Langley DPAC a better place to be
Tonight, I met with a fellow executive and we sat outside on a beautiful night and we talked about how we could make the Langley DPAC a better place to be.
We talked about opening up the website for a day to have a school trustee candidate become a guest blogger on the website answering to a question that we posted and we thought that would be a good idea. We could moderate the comments and invite absolutely every candidate to answer to the questions that we posed and they could answer them or not. It was up to them.
If there is a school trustee candidate out there that wants to answer to us here, to a question posted by us, get in touch with us. We want to have all of the information here for the parents in the district to see.
We are going to have an election 2014 menu on the page if everyone agrees and this will allow the candidates to answer our questions, present their platforms and we thought of even allowing THREE links to articles they deemed fit for our consumption as parents about to vote in the elections.
As the DPAC, I think it prudent to give them all their 15 minutes of fame and hey, as the parents of kids in the district, we should invite them here to say what they need to the questions that we ask.
I am sure that a lot of you are wondering just what the heck we are doing here as the Langley DPAC and rightly so.
This year is a new year one for the Langley DPAC and with all of the new faces come new ideas to help us become a stronger voice for the parents in this district.
When we speak about the kids in the district, we all seem to come together and that really is why we are each elected to our positions in the first place. You all put us here to make the best decisions based on your beliefs.
The Langley DPAC is also looking at officially sponsoring a charity involving children and we want your input on this.
The education of our children involves more than math and science. We need to show them that giving and kindness and compassion also contribute to their life skills that will make them better people. This is a fact and this should also make you smile as it makes us smile too.
We are here to answer your questions and talk about the things that we want to do to make a difference in the lives of the kids that enter our schools and we look forward to your input.
On a final note, what do you all think about the Langley DPAC offering babysitting services at our General meetings? I know a lot of you have younger children in elementary schools and we could look into renting the adjacent room to the main meeting room for this purpose if there is enough interest.
Beatrice
Behind DPAC Doors this week….
Behind Langley DPAC doors – Week ending Oct 13/2014….
Firstly, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.
This is the second week that I’ve written about what really goes on at a DPAC level and this is week two of our mission of ‘transparency’ for being the voice of the parents in our district.
This week, we sent out the BCCPAC and DPAC membership forms. These are very important to us as we use this contact information to keep in touch with you about things that matter in your schools.
We are hosting an open forum soon for the school trustee candidates and I hope that you will take the time to send us some questions that you would like answered at the forum. Maybe you would like to even attend?
The next Langley DPAC general meeting is Oct 23, 2014,. School Board Office at 7pm. We will post the agenda for this meeting seven days in advance of it’s occurrence.
On a positive note, we have recruited new members to the Langley DPAC and we now have quorum at our executive meetings. New blood is a wonderful thing sometimes to a new organization. We will announce new positions at the next general meeting.
The Ubuntu computer program is proving to be a HUGE success and we are already struggling just to keep up. I will be speaking of this at the next Langley DPAC General meeting as well.
The Rivermen are going into the first school next week and I’m also meeting with them as well next week to pursue other involvement with them helping the schools in various ways.
I’ve asked the Rivermen organization to come and speak at our General meeting. The players reading to our kids or playing hockey with them is going to be a wonderful thing.
This week, we are meeting with Ms. Hoffman, school superintendent and I still feel sometimes like it’s going into the principal’s office. (Not that I was ever there).
Over the last while, I have chatted with many of the DPAC reps as well as PAC presidents as well as parents of kids in this district. To all of you that sent us emails and chatted with us, I have to say a big THANK YOU for all of your comments and recommendations. This allows us to become better at what we are supposed to be doing and that is to be a voice for all of you.
We also have to say thanks to the PAC’s who invited us to speak at their General meetings in the next few months. Can we have a shameless invitation to come and sit and listen and offer advice if required at one of yours?
Over the last month or so, the Langley DPAC has put more effort into reaching out and the response has been amazing and humbling at the very same time.
Maybe this is a sign that we need to evolve and we have. I would hope so anyways.
‘The time has come the walrus said, to talk of many things’….
If you have a recommendation, we want to hear it. If you want to help us out in our endeavors, contact any of us. Please feel free.
The Langley DPAC is the voice of the parents and the executive behind closed doors is instructed to act in the best interests of the parents and that is one amazing decision to be a part of.
Beatrice
Update for Rivermen reading/phys. ed program next week…..
Reading with the Rivermen or Hockey Rules with the Rivermen
Hello all,
I have received the following from the team regarding getting this program started next week.
“I have spoken to my boss and we are very excited to get the program up and running next week.
Ideally we would like to keep this on a similar weekly schedule to accommodate the players’ schedule (please note that some weeks will change due to the Rivermen game schedule).
We are however hoping to go with Mondays & Tuesdays 9-11am. It is not necessary for the player to stay with one class for the entire two hours, they are able to go to other classes as long as this has been arranged with me prior to the visit. So what I am saying is we can hit more than one classroom in a visit.
It appears as though we are unable to provide the equipment for Phys Ed. but we would still like to run this program at schools that are able to provide their own equipment (plastic sticks, nets, floorballs etc).
I think we would like to have Monday 9-11am be for Phys Ed. Visits and Tuesday 9-11am for reading visits.
I am just waiting on confirmation from the team that they will be available on October 14th but if so we will move forward with this date.
Ideally what I would like to happen is for interested teachers to email you the following information (I’m hoping eventually we can have a link on the web site but as of yet we do not)
Program: Reading with the Rivermen or Hockey Rules with the Rivermen
Date & Time Requested: Mondays 9-11am Phys Ed or Tuesdays 9-11am Reading
School:
Teacher(s) Name(s):
Contact Info:
Grade level:
Number of Students in Class:
Additionally we would bring tickets for each of the classes we hit that day for an upcoming home game.”
Please check with your schools and let me know ASAP for next week.
Thanks
Beatrice
The Grass Roots of the Langley DPAC
The Grass Roots of the Langley DPAC…..
In order for the Langley DPAC to be a voice for it’s members, we need to know what is going on with the members. This is a fact.
We do get snippets from the DPAC reps and parents if they speak up at our meetings but we collectively, are wanting more information on what is really happening at a PAC level within each of the District’s many schools.
To achieve this goal, Langley DPAC is hoping to get invitations to attend PAC meetings within the School District.
By doing this, we can see first hand what ‘really’ matters to you at a PAC level as well as providing assistance if you require it from a DPAC level.
We are also hoping to use some of the information we get to monthly showcase a particular school within the District and let others know what dedication and perseverance can really achieve.
Don’t be shy! Send us an invitation.