Blog Posts

The Abbotsford School District created an Anti-racism Action Plan. Funding was offered to school teams who proposed an inquiry question aligned with the Anti-Racism Action Plan to support schools' engagement in this work. Eleven school teams, including the team at Margaret Stenerson Elementary, were successful applicants.

One of the things I love most about this time of year is seeing the many ways we celebrate the season.  Visit any one of our schools and you’ll see snowflakes and Christmas trees and happy faces all around. If you are lucky, you might even catch sight of Santa and his elves. And it’s not just in schools and classrooms. The Abbotsford School Board Office is a veritable winter wonderland thanks to the goodwill and creative energy of our folks here. 

I spoke with an elementary student recently. He was a hockey fan and could easily recite NHL players' names. He knew their jersey numbers, the positions they played, and sometimes the number of goals and assists they scored. I suspect you might know a sports fan like this, too.

June marks the end of the school year and also brings PRIDE celebrations. The Abbotsford School District supports the inclusion of “gender identity and expression” as protected under the BC Human Rights Code. All staff and students have the right to express their identities respectfully and without discrimination.

In the bustling halls of Abbotsford's educational institutions, a profound sense of community thrives, fueled by the collaborative efforts of dedicated professionals. At the heart of this collective endeavour lies the invaluable practice of networking, a force that not only unites individuals but also fosters lasting growth and resilience within the Abbotsford School District.

More than ever, we must recognize that diversity is our strength. Abbotsford, our continuously growing "city in the country," has the third-largest diverse population in Canada, following Toronto and Vancouver. The Sikh community representing 14% of our local population has a rich history that enables Abbotsford to have the oldest existing Gurdwara in Canada, built in 1911. The intentional act of coming together to learn about and from one another is a catalyst for healthy communities, where we can begin to solve complex problems and reach for the joy in education.

Black Connections HS is a club that consists of Black mentors from the community and educators from the Abbotsford School District. Black Connections HS aims to build a safe, supportive and uplifting environment for our Black students as well as present opportunities for the Black youth in the Abbotsford School District.

Abbotsford School District employees have come together to create the EDIA Network. The diversity of the group is its strength, bringing together multiple perspectives. The Network includes teachers, Indigenous support workers, youth care workers, speech and language pathologists, education assistants, administrators, and school counsellors. The purpose of the EDIA Network is to engage in equity, diversity, inclusion, and Anti-racism education and projects. 

The opportunity to bring the Social Justice 12 course back to Rick Hansen Secondary was an important goal for educator Sandy Gill. Placing students in the centre of their learning is strongly valued by Ms.Gill. Thus, entering the social justice arena, it was imperative that the students learn about equity in an equitable setting. The students were provided opportunities to explore critical topics driven by their inquiry questions.

Rovi Sandhu, a grade six teacher at Chief Dan George Middle School, asks himself, "What can I do to ensure kids receive what they need?" Inspired by the book Street Data (2021), Sandhu put his inquiry question into action. He invited each student in the grade six pod to partake in an empathy interview, allowing them to share aspects of their lived experiences at school.