When I became principal of Western Canada High School the percentage of grade 10 students rating the school as safe and caring was 88%.

It is an impressive stats inline with the provincial average. One of my objective was to raise that number through a series of initiatives:Hired a .5 psychologist

• Increased counselling time by .5 FTE
• Continued work of staff wellness committee
• Created a student wellness club
• Introduced gender neutral bathrooms
• Introduced yoga classes
• Introduced Math-15 Class
• Introduced Math Camp for IB Students
• Introduced yoga sessions prior to exams
• Regular PD sessions for faculty with regards to mental health:
  • Of particular interest was the live performance of the Laramie Project followed by a panel on creating Safe Spaces in a school. The presentation was attended by the Faculty at Western Canada and by teachers from both school boards.
• Introduction of a depression screening day (Oct 6^th 2017)
• Interactive activities by different student clubs to raise awareness:
  • Speak-out on Mental Illness;
  • Pride Week by Spectrum Club;
  • Safe Space program introduce by Spectrum Club.
• Regular sessions in collaboration with AHS for parents:
  • -Nov 1, 2016: Coping with Stress
  • -Feb 9, 2017: Motivating the Unmotivated
  • -Sep 19, 2017: Nancy Mannix on the work of the Palix Foundation
• Fitness Center available to students and staff
• Study Space available

• The impact of this strategy is starting to show in our survey results: On the accountability pillar survey, the percentage of students rating the school as safe and caring went to 92.2% in May 2017.  With our Learning Leader for Student Services, I did a presentation on the approach taken at the Moving Forward With High School Re-Design Conference:

WCHS Presentation 2017 MFWHSR

Each year schools in the Calgary Board of Education have to present their results to the community. A template is offered to the school principals. I have added to the template.

My additions are related to the work started a few years ago to make our school more responsive to the students need. In particular, I have organised the template according to the principles of High School Re-Design.

These interconnected principles include: • Mastery Learning • Rigorous and Relevant Curriculum • Personalization • Flexible Learning Environments • Educator Roles and Professional Development • Meaningful Relationships • Home and Community Involvement • Assessment • Welcoming, Caring, Respectful and Safe.

Take a look!