Board Meeting Highlights - April 28, 2026

Good News

Avon PS Hosts Event: "Celebrating Who We Are"

Chair Michael Bannerman was pleased to share that Avon PS hosted a multicultural event to showcase the diverse heritage of students and families. More than 60 students representing 25 countries shared details through displays that highlighted their culture, food, language, traditional dress and more. This event received recognition in 2025 through the board of trustees' recognition program called iAM Making an Impact and the funds that the organizing team were awarded contributed to making this year's event even more memorable. Learn more and view photos in a recent Stratford Beacon Herald article.

AMDSB Employees Wrap Up Another Successful Campaign to Support the United Way

Vice Chair Patricia Smith shared that she, along with Trustees Nancy Rothwell and Deepika Mishra, Director of Education Graham Shantz and members of the AMDSB United Way Campaign Committee attended the Spirit of Community celebration to showcase organizations who organized employment campaigns. AMDSB staff raised over $26,000, which was above and beyond last year's contribution. In addition, several teams participated in the "Coldest Night of the Year" fundraiser that supports the local youth shelter "Shelterlink". Way to go!

Stratford District SS STEM Club Participates In Waterloo-Wellington Science Fair

Trustee Deepika Mishra highlighted the SDSS STEM Club and their attendance at a local science fair that welcomed over 100 projects. They sent three groups and each returned with a medal. Congratulations!

Little Falls PS Implements Unique Strategy for Grade 1 Students

Superintendent Riley Culhane shared that Little Falls PS staff have been implementing unique strategies to improve student literacy. Grade 1 educators have introduced an engaging kinesthetic strategy to help students move ideas from “brain to paper.” Students use hand and body movements to mimic a rocket ship and then “blast off” to their graphic organizers, supporting a clear transition from thinking, to planning, to organizing, to writing. Students develop a clear “beginning, middle, and ending” through this process and this approach has led to noticeable improvements in students’ written work. Well done!

Illustrated “T.I.D.E Rocket Paragraph Organizer” showing the structure of a paragraph. The organizer breaks writing into steps labeled Topic, Important Idea, Detail, Detail, and Ending. Cartoon children demonstrate each step, with captions explaining: introduce the topic, state the important idea, add details with connecting transition words, restate the first sentence and express how it made the writer feel, and finally “blast off” to write the full paragraph. A rocket graphic visually connects the steps from start to finish.

Pathways Highlights

Superintendent Paul Langis brought forward a variety of highlights from the Pathways team.

Junk Drawer Races: three teams received medals in the provincial Junk Drawer Races. This competition is for elementary students and highlights creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. This initiative also builds student confidence and an early awareness of skilled trades and technology pathways.
Skills Ontario: we have 52 elementary students and 10 secondary students preparing to represent AMDSB at the provincial Skills Ontario Competition in Toronto next week. This is not only a chance to showcase their skills, but also an opportunity to see what future pathways in the trades and technology could look like. In addition, Grade 10 Career Studies students from across the district will attend as part of a field trip, where they will have the opportunity to observe peers in competition and participate in career coaching focused on the skilled trades.
CTMA Donation to LDSS: the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA) has donated two industry-standard lathes as part of its Career-Ready with CTMA initiative (the equipment is worth $50,000). The program aims to address skilled trades shortages by equipping students with hands-on experience using modern machining tools, while also supporting teacher training in CNC machining and related technologies.

group of junk drawer race students from South Perth Centennial PS

Student and teacher working on the new equipment

International Education Students Enjoy Field Trip to Toronto

Superintendent Langis also shared that the International Education team recently hosted a field trip to Toronto on the PA day, bringing together 63 students for a memorable experience. Students had the opportunity to visit the CN Tower and explore Little Canada, two iconic destinations that offered a unique glimpse into Canadian culture and landmarks. The day was especially meaningful for our international students, who appreciated the chance to spend time together outside the classroom while experiencing these distinctly Canadian attractions.

Group photo of International Ed students

International Ed students posting in front of CN tower

Athletics Update

Students across the district have been busy with winter athletics. Below are those that have been reported to Superintendent Langis, if any are missing, please contact the communications team to have them added ([email protected]).

Sr Boys Basketball - WOSSAA silver (SHDHS)
Jr Boys Basketball - WOSSAA gold (SDSS), WOSSAA silver (GDCI), WOSSA bronze (SHDHS)
Sr Girls Volleyball - WOSSAA Gold (DCVI)
Jr Girls Volleyball - WOSSAA silver (GDCI & SDSS), WOSSAA Bronze (MDHS)
Girls Curling - WOSSAA gold and OFSAA gold (SDSS)
Swimming - G Bach (MDHS) - Gold in 100m IM, Silver in 100m Fly; A Garniss (FEMSS) - Gold in 50m Para Back, Gold in 50m Para Free
Badminton Mixed Doubles - WOSSAA gold (SDSS), going to OFSAA this week.

AMDSB Students Will be Showcased at Blyth Festival Art Gallery

Trustee Nancy Rothwell shared that beginning Friday May 1, student work will be showcased at the Bainton Gallery. Work will feature media, sculpture, photography, drawing, painting, printmaking and digital illustration. Details in this CK News Today article.

Clinton PS Focuses on Kindness

Superintendent Riley Culhane proudly shared that Ms Hayter’s Cornerstones class at Clinton PS wrote a letter to Ms Jeffrey’s grade 4/5s because of their amazing amazing school wide kindness projects and charitable actions. This letter expresses the Cornerstones class thanks for this, along with feathers crocheted by the class.

Students holding the crochet feathers they made

School Showcase

Communications Manager Chera Longston highlighted St. Marys DCVI, located in St. Marys (Trustee Sheila Armstrong-Marshall), and serves approximately 130 elementary students (grades 7 and 8) and 375 secondary students (grades 9 to 12). Its feeder school is Little Falls PS. The building opened in 1953 with an addition in 1991, and is led by Principal Petra Goetz and Vice Principal Chris Rawes under the supervision of Superintendent Riley Culhane.

Highlights from DCVI include:

Youth grants promoting leadership: A number of students received Youth in Action grants from the Perth Huron United Way. One student used her funds to support a leadership class project where she hosted a wellness day for grade 7/8 students. They are also using the funds to welcome guest speaker and mental health advocate Joel Hilchey who uses humour to promote naming feelings in order to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.
Academics and Experiential Learning: DCVI has seen a tremendous increase in OSSLT results going from 88% in 22-23 to 97% in 24-25. Their Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) programs (Manufacturing, Construction and Environmental) host a number of reach ahead and experiential learning opportunities.
South Africa Learning & Athletics: A group of students travelled to South Africa where they learned about the local eco-system through dung surveys, bird and mammal counts and vegetation surveys. In addition, the Sr Girls Volleyball team qualified for OFSAA and were awarded the "Team Sportsmanship Award" which acknowledges conduct on and off the court.
Support for Equity: The student senators worked with student council to host a bake sale to raise funds for the Equity fund. With no item costing more than $2 they made over $300!

students participating in a dung survey in South Africa

DCVI bake sale to raise funds for the Equity Fund

Days of Significance Wrap-Up (April)

Schools celebrated important days throughout the month of April. The video below provides a sampling of these activities!

April DOS Wrap-Up Video - 2026 by AMDSB Communications

Student Trustee Update

Student Trustee Julia Havenga reported that schools continue to host bake sales and other events to raise funds for each school's equity (or benevolent) fund. She also highlighted that their mental health social media campaign is set to launch during Children's Mental Health Week on May 4.

Future Board Meetings

Regular Board Meetings are held in person unless otherwise noted. Links to join the Regular Board meetings online will be posted on the Board Meeting page the day before the meeting.

Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - Governance and Strategic Planning Committee
Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 4:45 p.m. - Regular Session, followed by Committee of the Whole, Closed Session

Future Meetings/Events with Trustee Representation

Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) – Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. (Microsoft Teams)
Transportation Steering Committee (HPSTS) – Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.
Recognition and Service Committee – Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
Supervised Alternative Learning (SAL) – Monday, May 25, 2026 at 8:30 a.m.
Indigenous Education Advisory Committee (IEAC) - Monday, May 25, 2026 at 4:30 p.m.
Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) – Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. (Microsoft Teams)
Audit Committee – Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.