Provincial Priority: Student Engagement and Well-Being
DCDSB is committed to:
- Developing and strengthening Catholic identity through a focus on the five key elements of Catholic schools
- Improving student well-being
- Improving students’ participation in class time and learning
Further information on the goals and strategies so support student engagement and well-being can be found below.
Faith – Catholic Identity
DCDSB Goal: Develop and strengthen Catholic identity through a focus on the five key elements of Catholic schools.
- Support schools to engage students and families to assess, select, and create diverse signs and symbols of faith and welcome that reflect the diversity of the school community
- Use the signs and symbols in the spiritual theme design poster to develop a deeper understanding of the theological virtue of hope
- Enhance partnership through mutual, reciprocal sharing of information between the school and parish
- Support collaboration among the home, school, and parish to co-plan events and/or support each other’s initiatives
- Provide professional learning for elementary educators to support the implementation of the new Family Life Education Curriculum Policy
- Provide professional learning for Grade 1 educators to support the implementation of the new Family Life Education resource
- Provide professional learning for all educators on the use of the Catholic Curriculum Tool to support the integration of Catholic themes across the curriculum
- Engage in “works of mercy” according to Pope Francis’ Jubilee 2025 call to respond with hope to “the signs of the times”
- Focus on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to guide equitable assessment and evaluation practices
- Provide support to Adult Faith Ambassadors to facilitate school-based adult faith formation experiences
- Focus on varied prayer experiences at the system and school level in recognition of Jubilee 2025
Mental Health and Well-Being
DCDSB Goal: Improve student well-being
- Develop staff knowledge, capacity, and opportunity to foster student mental health engagement and leadership at the school and system level
- Collaborate with regional community organizations to guide targeted mental health promotion and substance use awareness
- Enhance commitment to creating culturally responsive, mentally healthy schools (e.g., strategic implementation of the Leading Mentally Healthy Schools document; board-wide wellness initiatives; Mentally Healthy Classroom online learning modules for educators)
- Support student help-seeking behaviour (e.g., establishment of DCDSB Let’s Talk Day; help-seeking materials for Grade 6 and Grade 9 students; Mental Health Literacy Lessons in Grade 7, 8, and 10)
- Offer targeted support to specific student populations through the establishment of new and/or expansion of existing intervention models
- Enhance supports for school mental health professionals to respond to student needs (e.g., standardized measurement-based tool for social workers; understanding of the impact of racial trauma; culturally responsive assessment tools for psychological staff)
- Offer targeted support to specific student populations through the establishment of new and/or expansion of existing intervention models
- Enhance supports for school mental health professionals to respond to student needs (e.g., standardized measurement-based tool for social workers; understanding of the impact of racial trauma; culturally responsive assessment tools for psychological staff)
- Strengthen the safety net supporting suicide prevention and intervention (e.g., annual mandatory refresher for all staff; review and update existing suicide protocols; train increased number of staff and community partners)
- Expand collaborative relationships with community agencies and enhance partnerships with parents/guardians/caregivers through capacity building (e.g., presentations; Wellness Wednesday newsletters)
DCDSB Goal: Improve students’ participation in class time and learning
- Facilitate professional learning for elementary and secondary educators to deepen understanding of Universal Design for Learning strategies
- Develop a clear visual for use by educators depicting a tiered model of trauma-informed strategies that promote positive student attendance
- Support educators with enhanced availability of tools and resources for trauma-informed, tiered intervention strategies
- Use attendance data to inform ongoing targeted interventions