About Hornby Island Community School
Introduction
Our school suffered a devastating fire on August 26, 2018 and we are SO excited to be moving into our brand new school this year after operating out of a modular school comprised of 2 multiage classrooms, 1 multi use space, Library, and Administration building for the past few years.
We are ever grateful to have had our mini mod school as our interim space and to now be moving onto creating new learning spaces in our new building.
School Mission
Our mission is to provide a safe, secure and inclusive environment, which fosters each student’s positive self-concept and which creates opportunities for each youngster to grow to his or her potential.
As a community school, our mission is to reflect and support the community of Hornby Island in an inclusive, integrated manner through advocacy, programs, services and activities that respond to expressed needs of individuals and the community.
Values Statement
At Hornby Island Community School we value community and its natural environment.
We embrace attributes of:
- 21st Century Learning
- Project Based Learning
- Place Based Learning
We put children’s intellectual, emotional and physical development first.
Our Vision
An environment safe for risk taking, responsibility, and being receptive to learning through building of strong relationships in a nurturing, open and honest space
We hold a vision of our school actively supporting community and in turn a community that supports our school. Hornby Island Community School is a reflection of our vibrant community, thriving because it is unique.
School Context – Who are We?
We are the Hornby Island Community School Ravens. We have been on a journey filled with change, emotion, resilience, and perseverance since 2018. We are champions of flexibility and adaptation to new spaces, places, and experiences! This year we will add a new teacher in response to surpassing over 50 registered learners!
Our new facility is state of the art! We are still learning about all of the things it will offer and will continue our discoveries in the days to come!
The new gym is big, bright, and will foster many opportunities for movement and skills. We have a “Creative Commons” area that will be used by both the school and will be available for community bookings after school hours once we are underway.
Our Learning Commons (LC) is loaded with brand new books and exploratory activities. We have also added a “T-Room” (T standing for Together, Teaching, Team, and Tea!). It offers small group spaces, areas to work with our specialty teachers/staff (e.g. Educational Assistants, Learning Support Teacher, Occupational Therapist, Speech and Language Pathologist, and Counsellor).
The Learning Studios are where learners gather with their teachers for instruction and daily routines as a group. They are colourful, bright, and inviting learning spaces with a variety of furniture and resources to meet the needs of diverse approaches to learning.What stands out as a very unique feature is “The Green Space”. This area is set up to become our “makerspace” area/STEM/STEAM/Project Based Learning space. It is very open and is the hub of the school.
The Natural History Centre was also located in our previous school, and the stewards that worked there often offered programs for our students to support areas of study e.g. fossils, animal habitats etc. We are THRILLED that they are moving into one of our former modulars and we are looking forward to working with them again soon!
The school property is located off of Vancouver Island. It takes about an hour and a half to reach the school (if the ferry schedule lines up!) from Courtenay. Our school is both rural and remote. Many families require an element of flexibility for educational needs of their children due to the seasonal “pulse” and economy of the island, family holiday times, housing accommodations, and seasonal employment.
Our staff also require flexibility in meeting the needs of our learners K-7 across all subject areas. All staff teach/work with all learners at varying points in our week. Learners are organized into “Base Camps” of K-2, 2-4, and 5-7 (subject to change) with their main teacher and then, from there, are part of “working groups” to give attention to individual next steps. Learners attend Monday –Thursday with an extended day (8:40-3:35) to enable families to access activities in town or off island errands on Fridays.
There are two full time teachers, a teaching Vice Principal, Teacher Librarian one day every two weeks, and an arts teacher one day per week. Our support staff consists of an Administrative Assistant, Library Clerk, Custodian, and two Educational Assistants. We also have itinerant staff from Student Services supporting our school; School counsellor one morning every two weeks, Learning Support Teacher once per month, Speech and Language Pathologist once per month, and other specialists as needed/requested (e.g. Occupational Therapist).
We are looking forward to updating our story through the year to reflect our new identity building of our new school!
Action Plan for Learning Documents: