Assurance Framework

Background

Evergreen Catholic Separate School Division (ECSSD) continues to develop priorities and goals to ensure the continued growth of student learning. The Assurance Framework for educational planning represents that the Evergreen Catholic School Board of Trustees is committed to developing clear goals, outcomes, and strategies to assure stakeholder confidence. Assurance provides the framework to continue to maintain close alignment with the direction and goals of the Ministry’s Alberta Education Business Plan 2024 while being aligned to the needs of our school communities.

The Evergreen Four Year Assurance Plan is the document which guides the strategic plans for the Division and schools for the upcoming years. The Assurance Plan is available in a web-based format in order to facilitate accessibility for all community members.

Spring 2024 ECSSD Assurance Plan 2021-2025

(To view the individual School Assurance Plans, please click here)

Assurance Priority Areas

For 2021-2025, Evergreen Catholic Schools has identified four priority areas connected to Alberta Education domains:

1. Faith Formation

Ever Growing, Learning and Living in Christ - In Evergreen Catholic, we educate in an atmosphere of faith, hope, and love, to prepare our students to live as compassionate, confident, and contributing citizens. We are committed to the philosophy that our students are unique creations of God to be respected and nurtured.

2. Quality Teaching & Learning

Our schools are strongly committed to the ideals of Catholic education, providing our students an opportunity to achieve academic excellence as well as grow personally, socially and physically in a Christ-centred environment. Student success depends on quality teaching in an environment that respects each individual as a gift from God. Quality teaching and learning promotes creativity and innovation while attending to meaningful assessment and reporting practices.

3. Wellness

Our focus, at the heart of everything we do, is to provide welcoming, caring, respectful and safe Catholic learning environments that promote the well-being of all students and staff.

4. Engagement & Advocacy

Evergreen Catholic Schools is committed to ongoing communication and engagement with educational partners to improve decision-making opportunities and assurance. Its Board of Trustees, staff, and families are strong supporters of public Catholic education.

Accomplishments

The Board of Trustees for ECSSD continually revisit and refer to the mission, vision and belief statements to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of today’s learner. This is an important point in time; education in Alberta is seeing great changes, driven by the fast pace of the globalization of information, and a change in funding formulations. The intent of these changes is to better prepare students for a highly competitive and technology-driven future. The most important element in making this a success will be a much more active engagement by students, parents and members of the community at large in the education process.

We are very proud of our previous results and wish to recognize and acknowledge the commitment and dedication of our school administration, teachers and staff as well as our central office administrative team, who collaboratively, provide all our students a positive faith-based learning experience and quality education. The support provided by our parents and community partners is also a very significant piece of our achievements.

We believe that our schools are strongly committed to the ideals of Catholic education, providing our students an opportunity not only to achieve academic excellence but also to grow personally, socially and physically in a Christ-centered environment. We are committed to the philosophy that our students are unique creations of God to be respected and nurtured.

Annually, the Minister of Education evaluates how well the education system is performing and meeting the expectations of parents and society. The Education Assurance Measures results provide assurance to Albertans regarding the ongoing performances of school jurisdictions and the provincial education system. Highlights of our achievements include the following:

Safe and Caring is Very High and has an overall evaluation of Excellent;
Program of Studies is Very High and has an overall evaluation of Good;
Education Quality is High and has an overall evaluation of Good;
Drop Out Rate achievement is Very High and has an overall evaluation of Excellent;
High School Completion Rate (three year) is High and has an overall evaluation of Good;
Lifelong Learning is High with an overall evaluation of Good;
Work Preparation is Very High and has an overall evaluation of Good;
Citizenship is Very High and has an overall evaluation of Excellent;
Rutherford Scholarship Eligibility Rate is Very High for an overall evaluation of Excellent.

Foundation Statements

Evergreen Catholic Separate School Division Mission:

Following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and in partnership with the home and Parish, we are committed to serve each individual student in an atmosphere of faith, hope and love. We strive to educate the whole student spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically.

Evergreen Catholic Separate School Division Vision:

EVERGREEN CATHOLIC: Ever Growing, Learning, and Living in Christ

Ever Growing: Students will explore life opportunities that develop their unique talents and potential, provide a sense of purpose and belonging, and affirm the dignity of work. They will become life-long learners, who will cultivate the virtues of wisdom, courage, self-control, justice, charity, and hope.

Ever Learning: Students will gain the knowledge and skills to form the foundations for successful and fulfilling lives and make meaningful contributions to their communities and the world.

Ever Living: We openly celebrate our common bond of faith in God and we educate in an atmosphere of faith, hope, and love to prepare our students to live as compassionate, confident, and contributing citizens.

Evergreen Catholic Separate School Division Belief Statements:

In Evergreen Catholic Schools, we believe that:

- - Every person is made in the image and likeness of God.
  - Parents are the primary educators responsible for ensuring the child's development and faith formation.
  - Collaboration among home, school and parish fosters a comprehensive Catholic Education.
  - Our Christ centered learning environments foster the growth and development of the whole child.
  - Educational programs need to be student-centered and accessible.
  - Highly qualified, faith-filled staff create excellent learning environments.

Accountability Statement

The Assurance Plan for Evergreen Catholic Separate School Division commencing September 1, 2024 was prepared under the direction of the Board of Trustees in accordance with the responsibilities under the Education Act and the Fiscal Planning and Transparency Act. This plan was developed in the context of the provincial government’s business and fiscal plans. The Board has used its performance results to develop the plan and is committed to implementing the strategies contained within the plan to improve student learning and results.

The Board approved the Assurance Plan for 2021-2025 on May 13, 2024.

Planning Cycle

School authority planning is an integral component of school authority assurance. The Board of Trustees, in collaboration with Senior Administration and key stakeholders, develops a plan that sets out our educational priorities, and assurance elements within the domains of education.

Our planning cycle involves the following opportunities:

Developing a Division Assurance Plan that aligns with provincial domains, outcomes and performance measures and the Division’s vision, mission and values;
Promoting community engagement;
Implementing strategies to maintain or improve student learning and achievement;
Monitoring the implementation of goals and adjusting as needed;
Focusing results to identify areas for improvement and to develop strategies and targets for the next plan;
Preparing budgets and allocating resources to support student learning, to achieve goals and to improve results; and
Communicating with stakeholders (parents, school councils, staff, students, the public and Alberta Education) about school authority plans and results.