St. Bonaventure Elementary honoured

An inclusive vision won two awards for excellence from the Fraser Institute

- WCR photo by Alicia Ambrosio St. Bonaventure principal Ursula Kernaghan chats with the school's vice-principal Fernando Runco.

By ALICIA AMBROSIO
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

Happy teachers make happy students, and happy students are successful students. The staff at St. Bonaventure Elementary knows this, and it shows.

The Fraser Institute recently awarded the school two Garfield Weston Awards for Excellence in Education: Academic Achievement in Excess of Expectations, and Improvement in Academics-Elementary.

Ursula Kernaghan, principal at St. Bonaventure for the past two years, says she is convinced the school's academic success starts with the strong sense of community among staff. "We work in community," Kernaghan said in an interview.

Building community at St. Bonaventure starts outside the classroom, with teachers taking part in retreats away from the school environment and just getting together away from the school to have fun, she said.

"That's where you need to begin, it (sense of community) starts there and it should permeate," Kernaghan said.

Once that sense of community is established, it becomes easy to work together, said Kernaghan. Like all Catholic schools in Edmonton, students at St. Bonaventure, 3004-139 Ave., get a half day each Thursday.

Teachers brainstorm

While students are at home enjoying the afternoon, teachers are still at school. The teachers at St. Bonaventure are partnered up according to the grades they teach and in those pairs, share their experiences, as well as brainstorm together ways of dealing with classroom challenges.

"The teachers are vigilante," Kernaghan says with a laugh. "By week two (of the school year), they've already identified kids who are at risk of falling behind in certain subjects or who will need extra help, and they come to me saying, 'What can we do for this child?'"

"Failure is not in their vocabulary. There's no sense of 'Let's give up, we're not going to reach this child,'" Kernaghan said.

Although she diminishes her role in the creation of this "professional community" saying, "It was like that already when I got here two years ago," Kernaghan certainly plays a central role in creating the happy environment at St. Bonaventure.

When she notices a teacher doing something in the classroom that works well, that the kids really respond to, she asks the teacher to share it with the rest of the staff. That means for one staff meeting Kernaghan hands over the reins to that teacher so they can essentially teach their colleagues how to teach.

Kernaghan also makes a point of "making the rounds" every morning, stopping in at every classroom and giving the students a chance to tell her what's on their minds that day.

The result is that she does not come across as the typical school principal, a mysterious, unapproachable figure children often fear. Her office walls are decorated with drawings given to her by students.

Walking through the school hallways with Kernaghan is like walking with the captain of the Oilers hockey team, or the latest MTV teen sensation. Children on their way to the gym wave enthusiastically and call out "Hi, Mrs. Kernaghan!!" holding up the line to do so.

- WCR photo by Alicia Ambrosio A student's portrayal of Ursula Kernaghan reflects the warm image she projects.

The community building among the teachers, the professional sharing and teamwork, as well as Kernaghan's own openness and availability is all done for the kids to make sure they are happy and thriving, Kernaghan says.

"Kids are pretty bright. They pick this up. They contribute to their own success. They see how hard everyone works for them and they jump on board."

Of course, supportive teachers and a principal like Kernaghan means nothing without the backing of the parents themselves. "The parent community is very supportive with whatever we need to deliver the curriculum," she said.

"We create a wish list and they set to work fundraising, whether it is a lab that needs to be replaced or field trips we want to do. They're very supportive and very conscious of the socio-economic challenges (we face)."

The parents' council, in turn, attributes the school's success to pro-active teachers and staff. "It's a very pro-active school," said Ronda Gras, chair of the school's parents' council and mother of two.

"The teachers are fully engaged, they challenge themselves and bring the kids to the next level and get the parents involved, they're open to new ideas and new programs," said Gras.

Those programs, like the balanced literacy program, are implemented on a wide scale. "There's no point in focusing on Grades 1, 2 and 3 if you don't follow it up in Grades 4, 5 and 6," said Kernaghan.

The balanced literacy program consists of an intense independent and guided reading curriculum in the primary grades. The program is already in place in the primary grades.

The result? Children have access to a vast in-class library and as early as Grade 2 are not just reading constantly, but reading and distinguishing between different genres of literature.

By the time these students get into the intermediate grades they are voracious readers.

"There is an unwritten plan to now focus on Grades 4, 5 and 6," said Kernaghan, thereby ensuring that students continue to develop their literacy skills.

Perhaps the greatest testament to St. Bonaventure's success are parents who move out of the neighbourhood to higher income neighbourhoods, yet continue to send their children to St. Bonaventure.

Kernaghan says many parents who have moved on to other neighbourhoods tell her, "Why should I move my kids?"

To determine which schools have shown improvement in academic achievement, the Fraser Institute looks at the average language arts and mathematics scores in provincial achievement tests. Achievement tests are administered in Grades 3 and 6.

The Fraser Institute looks at how those scores have changed in the previous five years.

Income factored in

For the Garfield Weston award for achievement in excess of expectations, the Fraser Institute examines census data to determine the income level of area in which the school is located. Average Achievement Test scores are then analyzed.

Lisa-Diane Fortier, coordinator of outreach programs and school performance studies at the Fraser Institute, said the aim of the award is to de-bunk the myth that only schools in high-income areas achieve excellence in academics.

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