It’s hard to believe as of yesterday school is in. Students headed back to class after a long summer break.
Students at Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS) got a few surprises when they walked in the door this year.
A new vision for DVSS
The first change is a new mural next to the library. The school unveiled their new vision and mission statement to students and parents.
The new vision for the school is “To engage possibilities and embrace potential.”
The new mission statement is “Inspiring a caring and courageous community of lifelong learners; empowering global citizens for generations.”
To go along with the vision and mission statement is a new tagline for the school. “Learning for life” replaced the school’s old tagline, “The place to be.”
“This year is all about the unveiling of our new vision and mission statement. Last year we spent six months working on and developing a new vision and mission statement for the school. It’s the next step in turning around our facility,” said principal Curtis LaPierre.
Students, parents, and staff contributed to the creation of the new vision and mission statement by listing words they thought represented the school. Those words were collected and processed with an innovative tool.
“We got that information together and put it into a Wordle,” said LaPiere. “You can take that and you can start to pick out themes and work on the vision and mission statements.”
In a Wordle, words vary in size depending on the number of times they’re used in a survey. The larger the word appears, the more it was used.
The new vision and mission statement will permeate the school according to LaPierre.
“The other mission statement was 15 years old and a lot has changed in that time. There was the complexity of it too. It was a couple paragraphs with sentences upon sentences. In terms of organizations today, mission and vision statements are brief and have a lot of thought and detail behind them,” said LaPierre. “It was also the new school, new name, and now we just needed a new vision and mission.”
New classes added
One thing students noticed right away is each class is slightly shorter than last year. This year, each block will be two minutes shorter.
However, students shouldn’t be arranging to be picked up from school sooner. The shorter classes make room for a new school wide course.
“It’s called Learning Strategies. That 30 minutes will be used for study and reading, and the students will be receiving school wide instruction in study habits, memorizing, test, and readings skills,” said LaPierre. “It’s such an important aspect of schooling that students don’t frequently receive direct instruction in terms of how to do it,”
There is also a slew of new options for junior high students. Cosmetology 9 and Drama 9 were added, and Outdoor Education for the Grade 8’s is returning as an option.
There will be no hockey program for the upcoming school year. Earlier this year LaPierre had been hoping to add to the school’s athletic repertoire by offering a hockey program for students. There weren’t enough students or parents interested this year, but LaPierre hopes to have a program together come the fall of 2013.
Teachers depart
There were few changes to staffing at DVSS this year. Mr. Hamm is teaching full time and Mrs. Kolm moved to Greentree School. The school also lost a teacher this year with the retirement of Mr. Neal.
International numbers surge
DVSS is looking at an enrollment of 380 students, which is down from last year by 14 students. However, the international program swelled this year. So far, 62 students are registered, but LaPierre suspects only 50 will come. Last year there were 35 international students.
A group of 20 South Korean students will also be in attendance for the first three months. The group comes in the wake of the Korean students last year.
DVSS opened it’s doors yesterday for the first day of classes. New students were given welcome packages, filled with useful supplies and gifts provided by local businesses. Students then headed off to the gym for an assembly welcoming everyone back for another exciting year at DVSS.
