New Westminster school district superintendent John Woudzia has joined the blogosphere.
The head of the local school district is now hosting a blog as a way of communicating and updating the public on positive happenings in the district.
"I'm very excited to do it," Woudzia said. "We just wanted to create an opportunity to talk more about our successes, and just to show our great district here, our achievement results are outstanding here."
One of the district's recent achievements that the superintendent is particularly proud of is its success with Aboriginal students. The district recently signed an Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement, which is a "blueprint" for ways to improve outcomes for Aboriginal students "and is in essence a 'bond' or agreement that the district enters into with the Ministry of Education to do these things," Woudzia wrote on his blog.
New Westminster was the first urban school district to have such an agreement, which started in 2004.
"Fast-forward to 2012, and it's truly amazing to see the progress that has been made. For one, our six-year Aboriginal completion rate (similar to the graduation rate) has gone from 17 per cent in 2004 to 62 per cent in 2011. While this improvement is impressive on its own, (it) is truly remarkable when compared to the provincial average in 2011, which was 50 per cent," Woudzia wrote.
Other educational achievements Woudzia is highlighting include: the many apprenticeship and alternate programs, adult learning centres and an island discovery program on Bowen Island, the Universal Design for Learning program, which Woudzia describes as a systematic approach to teaching and assessment that strives to meet the needs of all students.
The district's work with Universal Design for Learning is noted enough that a handful of educators from back east recently came to the district to see how it is implementing the learning program that is gaining ground.
The district is dealing with a hefty $2.8-million deficit and has faced its share of critics, and some in the district believe outside controversy has at times overshadowed the good work that goes on in the classroom.
"These are success stories that, in New Westminster, we quietly go about doing in the education front," he said. "What I prefer is just an opportunity to talk about the wonderful innovative practices that exist in New Westminster."
To read the superintendent's blog, visit blogs.sd40.bc.ca/superintendent/.
