Student growth is one of the most important issues the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows School District is facing today, according to the new superintendent.
However, Teresa Downs, who is spending her first 100 days in her new role actively getting to know the school district, calls this growth an “opportunity,” even though she acknowledges student population growth is putting pressure on schools and the surrounding infrastructure.
Growth, said Downs, is an opportunity to examine how to expand student learning and make sure education leaders are listening to the students they serve, especially about their needs in order to be engaged in their learning. It gives them a quality experience that allows them to pursue any opportunity they want after they graduate, said Downs.
She also noted that growth will also mean examining what classrooms of the future will look like.
“Of course that growth is putting pressure on schools, but I think that will create a great opportunity for us to have a conversation about what learning spaces need to look like for students. And are they always in a classroom? Or, what are the other options we can be exploring for how and where learning takes place?” Downs elaborated.
And, she added, new students bring diversification and, “a richness to our learning and our understanding and the values we have.”
Downs has come to SD42 from the Gold Trail School District, a district with only eight schools – three kindergarten to Grade 12 schools, three elementary schools, one rural one-room school, and one secondary school.
She took over from Harry Dhillon, who retired after being in with the school district since 1988, including four years as superintendent.
Even though the size and scale of the two school districts are significantly differnt – as SD42 has 22 elementary schools and six secondary schools, in addition to Ridge Meadows College, Continuing Education, and Online Learning – Downs sees the similarities.
She said that both school districts are experiencing pressure around facilities, mostly to do with finances, funding, and sustainability.
In Gold Trail the pressures surround having a declining population and how to have the optimal number of students in each school, in addition to what programs you offer in those schools. There is also the added pressure of aging school buildings.
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While in this school district student population is growing, not declining, and making sustainable decisions about where to direct funds from the Ministry of Education and Child Care, is paramount, said Downs.
Downs brings 13 years of experience as a superintendent, and she said, she also brings an understanding of what the role of superintendent of schools is for a school district.
“The other thing I am bringing with me is a deep belief in the role and value of public education and the impact that it has on individual students, but also families and communities,” said Downs, who also served for two years as the president of the BC School Superintendents Association, through which she gained a provincial understanding of the system, who the partners are, how to work with the ministry and understanding of how they work and how that work relates to a school district.
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“I’ve seen that throughout my career and it is constantly affirmed for me the immense opportunity and privilege that we have to serve in public education when you see the impact it has on students, families, and communities,” she noted.
Downs believes for students to have a quality education, they must see others who look like themselves in the student population, in the staff, and in the literature and resources that are provided to them.
“That they have a sense that their perspective and world view is acknowledged and valued to the same degree as others,” she added, and that each student has a connection with two to three people in their school who are there for them.
These are qualities of a great education, said Downs that will make students want to attend school and allow them to keep the momentum until Grade 12 and graduation.
“Students need to be engaged in their learning. They need to understand why they are learning it and how it will be a benefit to them, that it’s relevant and purposeful,” she said.
What Downs has also noticed between the two school districts are the similarities between students, who are all beautiful, curious, and who want to be successful and valued – and staff working hard to meet the needs of the students before them.
“I have been overwhelmed every single day at the greatness I am seeing in this school district,” said Downs, noting she is so honoured to be here and working with such a great team.