Neerlandia Public Christian School “Learning to Serve"

Part A: School Demographics

Principal: Mr. Don Wielinga

Associate Principal: Mr. Richard De Vries

FTE Teaching Staff: 12.05

Support Staff: 6

Student Count: 213

Grades: K-Grade 10

Part B: PHRD#7/ Learning Goal Achievement 2000-2001 School Year

Goal 1: Achieve Excellence In Student Learning

AISI Project Outcomes: a. Extended Kindergarten - 7 students participated in our extended kindergarten program b. Early Reading Intervention - 10 students had the opportunity to receive ERI c. Balanced Literacy - our kindergarten to grade 3 teachers became part of this district initiative, very positive results were reported in this first year. Mrs. Lorna Kiel was our school lead teacher for Balanced Literacy. d. Literacy Across Boundaries - some of our teachers participated in the LAB writing projects workshop e. Summer Reading Project - we had 15 students participate last year in the Summer Reading Program at NPCS. f. System Unified Math - Mr. Richard DeVries was our lead teacher for this project, much sharing was done through classroom visitations as well as professional discussion. g. Improving Literacy and Numeracy - we are very happy with these results from the AISI projects as well as classroom instruction. Our paired reading program where parent volunteers read with students proved to greatly assist students. ♦ Through much deliberation with all stakeholders one Grade One student was retained. ♦ Average number of credits per high school student was 45 credits ♦ All students with IPPs demonstrated improvement. ♦ All Grade 3, 6 & 9 students participated in the writing of provincial achievement tests. ♦ Honor Roll: Gr. 7 = 9/25, Gr. 8 = 5/15, Gr. 9 = 2/13, Gr. 10 = 7/21. Total: 23/74 students on honor roll. Percentage of Jr./Sr. High students on the honor roll is 31%

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 1 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001

Locally Based Outcomes:

Satisfaction surveys (April, 2001) provide these performance measures: ♦ 60% of our parents were satisfied with services provided for their child with severe special needs. ♦ 77.8% of our parents were satisfied with services provided for their child with mild/moderate special needs. ♦ 100% of our parents were satisfied with the communication they get about their child’s progress and achievement at school.

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 2 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001

NEERLANDIA PUBLIC CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Achievement Results 1997 - 2001 Subject Standard 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 School Prov School Prov School Prov School Prov School Prov Grade 3 LA Excellence 14.3%= 13.6%- 18.2%= 15.2%= 20.8%= 15.8%+ 33.3%+ 19.3%+ 42.9%+ 17.4%+ Acceptable 90.5%= 87.2%+ 81.8%= 86.0%+ 100.0%+ 88.7%+ 90.5%= 90.7%+ 95.2%= 89.4%+ Total % Writing 95.5% 94.1% 91.7% 93.3% 100.0% 94.1% 100.0% 93.0% 100.0% 92.6%

MATH Excellence 18.2%= 21.2%+ 27.3%= 20.8%+ 29.2%= 25.4%+ 33.3%+ 27.6%+ 28.6%= 25.7%+ Acceptable 90.9%= 92.6%+ 81.8%= 80.4%- 87.5%= 84.7%= 90.5%= 87.9%+ 95.2%= 87.5%+ Total % Writing 100.0% 94.8% 91.7% 93.1% 100.0% 94.3% 100.0% 93.0% 100.0% 93.1%

Grade 6 LA Excellence 12.5%= 15.5%+ 8.3%= 14.4%- 6.7%= 17.4%+ 21.7%= 20.9%+ 33.3%+ 16.2%+ Acceptable 91.7%= 84.2%- 83.3%= 83.8%- 80.0%= 84.4%- 82.6%= 86.3%+ 93.3%= 85.4%+ Total % Writing 100.0% 94.3% 92.3% 93.5% 100.0% 93.1% 100.0% 93.0% 100.0% 92.1%

MATH Excellence 29.2%= 24.4%+ 25.0%= 15.9%+ 33.3%+ 16.9%+ 17.4%= 17.3%+ 40.0%+ 19.2%+ Acceptable 95.8%= 87.7%+ 100.0%= 81.2%- 93.3%= 82.8%- 82.6%= 83.7%- 100.0%= 84.9%= Total % Writing 100.0% 94.8% 92.3% 94.0% 100.0% 92.9% 100.0% 93.4% 100.0% 92.6%

SCIENCE Excellence 8.3%= 13.5%- 16.7%= 18.6%+ 20.0%= 24.3%+ 8.7%= 26.7%+ 20.0%= 27.3%+ Acceptable 95.8%= 77.2%- 75.0%= 80.2%- 86.7%= 84.5%- 65.2%- 84.8%= 100.0%= 87.8%+ Total % Writing 100.0% 94.3% 92.3% 93.0% 100.0% 93.1% 100.0% 92.8% 100.0% 92.8%

SOCIAL Excellence 4.2%= 17.2%+ 8.3%= 16.9%+ 0.0%= 17.5%+ 8.7%= 21.5%+ 0.0%= 20.3%+ Acceptable 70.8%= 77.8%- 75.0%= 78.0%- 86.7%= 81.7%- 78.3%= 84.0%- 86.7%= 84.4%- Total % Writing 100.0% 94.2% 92.3% 93.5% 100.0% 92.8% 100.0% 93.3% 100.0% 92.6%

Grade 9 LA Excellence 10.0%= 11.3%- 16.7%= 11.3%- 23.8%= 12.1%- 22.7%= 15.1%= 8.3%= 14.9%= Acceptable 100.0%= 86.9%+ 83.3%= 87.4%+ 100.0%= 87.6%+ 95.5%= 89.5%+ 91.7%= 89.2%+ Total % Writing 100.0% 91.2% 100.0% 89.3% 95.5% 89.6% 100.0% 89.6% 92.3% 88.3%

MATH Excellence 15.0%= 11.2%- 22.2%= 13.8%- 57.1%+ 15.2%= 36.4%+ 15.7%+ 50.0%+ 18.0%+ Acceptable 100.0%= 66.0%- 88.9%= 71.0%- 95.2%= 71.6%- 95.5%= 73.6%- 91.7%= 74.5%- Total % Writing 100.0% 91.4% 100.0% 89.0% 95.5% 88.6% 100.0% 89.5% 100.0% 87.9%

SCIENCE Excellence 15.0%= 15.5%+ 11.1%= 12.8%- 23.8%= 14.8%= 27.3%= 13.9%- 16.7%= 13.2%- Acceptable 95.0%= 78.1%- 88.9%= 78.3%- 100.0%= 78.1%- 100.0%+ 79.1%- 100.0%= 79.7%- Total % Writing 100.0% 91.7% 100.0% 89.5% 95.5% 89.7% 100.0% 90.3% 100.0% 89.3%

SOCIAL Excellence 15.0%= 15.2%= 11.1%= 13.9%- 33.3%+ 17.8%+ 31.8%+ 17.7%+ 33.3%= 17.8%+ Acceptable 95.0%= 81.3%- 83.3%= 78.4%- 95.2%= 80.4%- 95.5%= 80.5%- 100.0%= 81.1%- Total % Writing 100.0% 91.8% 100.0% 89.5% 95.5% 89.8% 100.0% 90.3% 100.0% 88.8%

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 3 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001

Goal 2: Develop the Whole Child in Partnership with the Community

School Council/Neerlandia Christian Education Society Report by Beatrice Visser

As I reflect of the past year I can say with gratitude that the Lord has generously blessed us yet another year.

Our year began with our annual meeting in September that was combined with the Library Society annual meeting and the school's "Get to Know You BBQ".

At the beginning of the year we meet with Superintendent, Sig Schmold, to discuss our role and responsibilities as a parent council and also our goals. From there we went to work.

Throughout the year we held several hot lunch sales as a service to our school as well as a small fundraiser.

One of our larger goals was to complete our playground this year. To make this a reality, we, along with the school hosted some major fundraisers. Included in these were the mandarin orange sale, the spell-a-thon and our silent and live auction. This goal was accomplished and completed in May with the dedicated effort of many people.

Another continuing goal of ours is to expand our bussing boundary or at least provide bussing to those who wish to attend our school. Over the course of the year we have met with the School Board to discuss the same favor of bussing into the area as is applied to going out. This request was denied but talks are continuing to make some changes in this area.

The parent council has also been busy promoting N.P.C.S. by means of advertising and face-to- face communication. We try to follow up with a visit to our new families each year.

Our last, but strongest goal is to support our school by upholding our teachers and staff and supporting them as they strive to provide a Christ- centered education for all of our students.

Our present council consists of the following people:

Beatrice Visser 674-6297 (Chairperson) Joyce Nederhoed 674-4950 (Secretary) Tony Jullion 674-3862 (Treasurer) Ken Strydhorst 674-5868 (General Adjunct) Grace Plantinga 674-5606 Wes Wierenga 674-4760 Mark Vriend 674-7694 Don Wielinga 674-3489 (Principal) Marie Tuininga 674-5649 (Student Rep.)

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 4 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001

We meet the last Monday of every month in the staff room of the school at 8:00 p.m. All parents are welcome to attend.

Each attending family of N.P.C.S. is requested to pay a membership fee of $100.00 per year. An associated member fee of $50.00 is asked of members with no children attending N.P.C.S. This revenue is used to cover the cost of Bible material for students, gifts, and supplement our bussing expenses. The balance of the revenue required for bussing is acquired through donations and fundraisers. Following is our year-end financial statement of N.C.E.S.

♦ Grade 10 Volleyball Girls Team went to Provincials ♦ Daniel Visser, a grade 8 student, went to Provincials for the Geography Challenge and placed 15th (out of 50). ♦ Christina Wierenga & Marie Tuininga, grade 10 students, won a bronze medal in the Badminton Provincials held in . ♦ Green Certificate program - three Grade 10 students are involved this year - Arjan Slomp, Trevor Stoik & Greg Blum. Registering for next year's program is Reuben Visser & Wander Slomp. ♦ Work Experience or Work Study - Several grade 10 students participated in Special Projects such as coaching sports teams, etc. Work Experience students were involved with local business as well as in Barrhead. Our grades 4-6 students were enrolled in French as a Second Language.

Community Partnerships: ♦ A Grade 9 student helps at the Dutch Delight restaurant approximately 1 afternoon per week. ♦ Our local Coop provided tremendous financial support with redeveloping our two playground projects. ♦ 8 of our Jr./Sr. High students were involved in special projects whereby they assisted in coaching volleyball and basketball. ♦ Because we have a smaller school most discipline concerns are communicated and dealt with reasonably and fairly using our established discipline routine. There was no real change in the amount or severity of discipline projects this year as compared to other years.

Community Involvement: We would not be able to offer as much for our students if it wasn't for our volunteers. We have several parent volunteers that help in the office and the classroom. We also have volunteers that help run the Home-Ec Cooking & Sewing classes. Community volunteers also help run our "Paired Reading" program that involves one-on-one reading with our Elementary students. We have parent volunteers that help with coaching sports teams and driving to extra-curricular activities. We have parent volunteer bus drivers. Parents who belong to our committees such as the Neerlandia Christian Education Society/School Council, Library Board, etc do many of our major fundraisers.

Citizenship Awards were given to six Jr./Sr. High students for being helpful to others and helping us learn to serve.

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 5 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001

Goal 3: Achieve Staff Excellence and Wellness

♦ Lori Tiemstra, our Kindergarten teacher received a Master Teacher award. ♦ Jim Bosma, Kathy Hellinga & Bert Van Niejenhuis mark PAT's at a local level. Mr. Bosma & Mr. Van Niejenhuis also go to during the summer to do marking. ♦ The following teachers were involved in AISI projects: ♦ System Unified Math: Margaret Krikke, Jim Bosma, Jolie Beck, Prakash Raju, and Richard DeVries ♦ Literacy across Boundaries Project: Don Wielinga ♦ Balanced Literacy: Lori Tiemstra, Lynn Weiss, Lorna Kiel, Maureen Fiebich and Kathi Hellinga ♦ Most of our staff was involved in the AISI projects as well as other PD offerings throughout the year.

♦ Our service project for this year was “The Giving Games”. The Giving Games proved to be very successful, one that we are sure will create a lasting memory for our school community. Our school was able to raise $5,500.00 for the Foodgrains Bank and CIDA. With the government assistance by matching 4 to 1, we were able to provide $27,500.00 to provide wheat to feed the world’s hungry. This was done in conjunction with St. Mary School in . The project culminated in meeting with St. Mary School. Each class represented a country and all countries prepared a 1-2 minute speech about their learnings. Medals were presented to the 3 classes that raised the most money: St. Mary received gold medals and Neerlandia received silver and bronze. We then had lunch and viewed the science fair type displays of the countries studied; singing and celebration followed this. To culminate the day’s activities student created gifts, distinctive of each country studied, and these were exchanged. Prior to the day each class had designed non-motorized mode of transportation. This vehicle was used to symbolically transport a bushel of wheat around a 4-block radius.

Satisfaction survey data (April, 2001) gives the following performance measures: ♦ 100% of our parents were satisfied with their child’s teacher ♦ 97.35% of our students in grades 4-12 believed their teachers are doing a good job. ♦ 94.7% of staff believed that they have the necessary skills to do their job well and contribute in a positive way to the vision and mission of Pembina Hills.

Goal 4: Plan & Support Program Development & Implementation

♦ Parents - As a parent I have opportunities to choose schools: 88.9% ♦ Students (gr.7-10) - I would give my school a grade of “A”: 84.2% ♦ Students - "I am satisfied with opportunities to choose different high school courses or programs": 45.5% favorable, 27.3% - no response and 27.3% unfavorable. ♦ 84.2% percentage of staff believes that they are meeting the provincial curriculum in the courses they teach. ♦ Ratio of students to modern computers-Todd K. provides June 2001

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 6 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001

Goal 5: Promote Public Education

Our school was involved in many activities to promote public education: Christmas Concert, St. Nick's Day, Christian Education Week Tea and Open House, Grade 9 Graduation, Jr./Sr. High Awards Day and monthly Chapels.

For the past few months we have been putting reports in the Barrhead Leader entitled "Learning to Serve at NPCS". We do monthly newsletters with lots of information that is sent home with students.

Satisfaction survey data (April, 2001) provides the following performance measures: ♦ Following is a breakdown of how our school community gave our school a rating of an "A": Parents & staff: 100%, Gr. 4-6 students: 100%, Grade 7-10 (12): 84.2% ♦ Following is a breakdown of parents, students, and staff who believe that our school is safe and caring: Gr. 4-6: 88.2%, Gr. 7-10: 89.5%, Parents & staff: 100%

Part C: Local School Goals

One of the local goals was regular communication with bus drivers. Our principal supervised busses daily. This regular daily supervision made for consistent communication with students, parents and bus drivers. Problems or potential problems were elevated or dealt with immediately as a result of this supervision.

Part D: School Program Report

Our CTS courses were offered on a trimester basis. One of the courses offered was “Information Technology”; all students are required to take this course at least once in grades 7,8 and 9. Parent volunteers under the supervision of a teacher directed another CTS option (Home Ec.).

Students received instruction in Bible for 2 hours every 5-day rotation. Each class began with devotions each day. All school staff participated in staff devotions every Tuesday morning.

♦ DARE - grade 6's again participated in this worthwhile program. ♦ Cool Program - grade 8's participated - at Camp Nakamun ♦ Field Trips - Grade 4's visited the Space & Science Centre, Grade 6's visited the Alberta Legislature, Grade 3's visited the 1881 School House, Grade 1's visited the Storyland Valley Zoo, Grade 6's went to Camp He Ho Ha, Grade 9/10's - annual Ski Trip to Jasper, Grade 10's annual backpacking trip to the mountains (near ). ♦ Technology performance - Grade 10's did some great Power Point presentations during Christian Education Week. ♦ New Playground Phase 2 - completed in May. ♦ Lion’s Quest- several areas of the Lion’s Quest program were integrated into our Health curriculum at elementary and junior high levels.

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 7 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001

One of the challenges for the upcoming school year will be to continue to offer the same level of instruction and courses with a lower enrolment.

At the end of this 2000/2001 school year our present principal Don Wielinga moved on to a new position with Wolf Creek School Division and Mr. DeVries our associate principal will assume the duties of principal for the upcoming school year.

I thank the staff of NPCS and PHRD #7 for their support and friendship over my past 4 years as principal here. My family and myself have been truly blessed by our time here. Our experience in Neerlandia has truly been God’s way of shaping and molding us into His people. I thank everyone for that.

Don Wielinga

Neerlandia Public Christian School - 8 - Year in Review 2000 - 2001