Erin District High School is one of 21 secondary schools in the province that will be recognized by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) at a special ceremony on Feb. 22 in Toronto.
The school will receive the 2010 Dr. Bette Stephenson Recognition of Achievement award, which honours the school’s dedication to student achievement and the use of EQAO provincial test results to improve student learning.
“We were very pleased,” said EDHS principal Julie Prendergast. “It is nice to get the recognition for hard work.”
She explained the school uses data from the EQAO test results to make changes in teaching habits and decide where staff should focus their energy.
“We are quite proud of our scores,” Prendergast said. “But it’s not just about test scores; it’s about [the students] feeling they belong and about being a part of the community.”
Upper Grand District School Board trustee Kathryn Cooper said the award recognizes the school’s commitment to “best practices” and optimizing the learning experience for students.
“It shows they really care about the kind of education going on at the school,” Cooper said. “It’s really exciting. We’re all pretty proud of what Julie and her team are doing.”
But Prendergast, who has been principal for about seven years, said a lot of people deserve credit for the recognition, including students, teachers and parents at EDHS, as well as those at the area’s feeder schools, and others.
“It recognizes our dedication to student achievement,” she said.
In an EQAO.com article on the school’s achievements, Prendergast stated, “Because our students are involved, our parents are involved. They drive, they help coach and they mentor. Our school is a community building. When parents come to get their teeth cleaned, we are here, so communication is ongoing.”
The school is located in Centre 2000, a multi-use building.
The EQAO article goes on to state staff at the school “use a wealth of data to set the specific targets of their school improvement plan: detailed results from EQAO, credit accumulation, attendance, ministry school-indicator data, information from report cards, departmental assessments, post-secondary applications and interviews with students.”
Noted Cooper, “It’s a very unique approach and it’s exciting to see that applied to children.”
The article also explains staff are “diagnosing needs and formulating specific strategies in a cross-curricular approach to improve comprehension. Their focus is on narrowing the gender gap in achievement and meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction and effective assessment …
“EDHS students have a comfortable relationship with at least one older student or staff member. In the [October Grade 9] survey, students talk about their strong connection to their school. That connection is important to maximize student learning …
“Erin District staff use data to improve school practices. Information is presented with sensitivity and care, to neither intimidate nor overwhelm. By sparking questions, conversations, and reflections, the data aid the teachers in seeing trends, measuring results and targeting specific areas of learning for improvement.”
Prendergast and Cooper, as well as other representatives from the school, including superintendent of education, Erin Kelly, and teachers Laura Beal, Gary Robinson and Elizabeth Paterson, will be attending the recognition ceremony on Feb. 22.
For more information visit eqao.com and follow the quick link to “school stories.”
