By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — With a new year underway, Davidson School is welcoming lots of new faces amongst both its staff and students.
“The population is booming,” as principal Jason Low put it, with enrolment so far at a total of 261 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12, up from 228 in 2013 and 242 last year.
A large part of that growth comes from the 30 children starting Kindergarten this year, while just seven students graduated from Grade 12 in June.
Low said there are also lots of students joining the other grades this fall, contributing to an enrolment increase of nearly eight per cent over 2014.
“The startup was very smooth,” he said Thursday. “I think everybody had a good summer and was ready to come back.”
Two new teachers began at Davidson this fall, including Joell Tiffin, who was previously an intern here in 2011.
Tiffin, who has taught in Outlook for the last three years, took over the Grade 2 classroom from Laura Willner, who took on a new role as the school’s guided English Language Arts (ELA) specialist.
Willner is now working with students in grades 1 through 5, providing what Low called “intensive support” in co-operation with other teachers to improve the school’s ELA performance.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Peach, who came to the school from Harris, is teaching the Grade 5 class, taking the reins from Paul Stinson, who has moved to the Distance Learning Centre at Kenaston.
This fall the school also welcomed a total of seven interns, drawn from both the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan.
Serving in the elementary wing are Kara Fidelack in Kindergarten, Ashton Mills in Grade 1, Tenille Kirtzinger in Grade 3 and Hallie Vollmer in Grade 4.
In the high school wing, Catherine Goyette is working with teacher Paulette Killoh, while Rheanne Gerwing was assigned to work with Sandra Baldwin.
“Our new staff is settling in nicely,” said Low, adding that the school is “a pretty happening building these days.”
As well, Correne Pedersen is joining the school as a casual staff member this year (0.17 FTE) for a new initiative called “Up to Code” for students in grades 1 through 12.
This program, based on a proposal from teachers Arlene Low and Sandra Baldwin, will instruct students in computing language.
Low said the school has other similar technological initiatives underway, with plans to showcase these programs toward the end of the year.
The school is also making plans for its annual “Meet the Teacher” barbecue, although a date has not yet been set.
For the full story — including updates from the schools in Kenaston, Loreburn, Hanley, Dundurn, Craik, Imperial, Holdfast, Bethune and Eyebrow — please see the Sept. 7 edition of The Davidson Leader.