About Us

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE (BYOD)

St. John Paul II Catholic School

“Learning is complex work and like other forms of skilled and technical work it requires that the person performing the job understand and be comfortable with his or her tool set.”

Alberta Teacher, 2011

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is an initiative that encourages students to use their own electronic devices in classrooms to personalize their learning. While all are encouraged to bring their own technology to school, formal BYOD programs have clear goals for student use within a classroom.

Bring Your Own Device fits in well with the goal for student technology use at St. John Paul II Catholic School:

• Core subject classrooms have readily available digital tools and media that engage learners and teachers in the collaborative pursuit of challenging and personalized curricular experiences reflective of today’s global, digital world.
  • A focus on higher order thinking skills
  • Collaborative learning environments
  • Personalization of learning

St. John Paul II Catholic School has a public wireless system for students and staff to connect their personal devices. An ECSRD username and password is all that is required. All students are encouraged to bring their own devices. Teachers are prepared for the increasingly common sight of technology in the students hands such as tablets, cell phones, and laptops that come to school with internet access. It has also allowed them to learn the different modalities of teaching with technology and assess when its use is appropriate. Administrators in our school have become involved assessing its effectiveness in the classroom to increase higher order thinking skills, collaboration and personalized learning.

Please note that in our Bring Your Own Device protocol, purchasing a device is optional – while we encourage students to bring devices they already own, you are not obligated to purchase a device for your child. Please note that we feel Smartphones are not excellent examples of devices to use in the classroom due to the inability for students to maintain lengthy word processing as well as the use of cellular data that cannot be monitored through our wireless system.

For students that do not have a device, forget their device, or choose not to bring one, in formal BYOD projects, students will have access to devices available for students use while at school.

Alberta Education has released the Learning and Technology Policy Framework (2013) for school divisions to plan for the greater integration with technology.

Through Inspiring Education, Alberta Education has identified several policy shifts needed to support students to become engaged thinkers and ethical citizens, with an entrepreneurial spirit. One of those shifts requires students to use technology to support the creation and sharing of knowledge.

Please read our BYOD Documents.

Please contact your school for more information about counselling services and programs offered at the school.

St. John Paul II Catholic School offers a variety of student activities.  We hope that each of our students will find an area of interest to become more involved in our school community.  Some programs require additional funding and students may be required to make a monetary contribution.  However, we always strive to keep student costs at a minimum.  If a family cannot meet the financial needs of paying activity participation fees, special arrangements may be considered by contacting the school administrators.

Evergreen Catholic School Division is committed to providing each school site with an Inclusive Education Coordinator.  The mission of this role is to ensure that all students have the supports and accommodations they require in order to successfully achieve  their full potential. Collaborating with parents, teachers, counsellors, administration, and outside agencies, students may be supported in a variety of ways.

Please contact your school for more information about inclusion and programs offered at the school.

Evergreen Catholic School Division respectfully acknowledges the vibrant history and culture of Indigenous nations in Canada. We continually seek to learn the traditions and contributions of Indigenous nations of Alberta while committing to moving forward in friendship and collaboration. We also recognize the land, upon which Evergreen Catholic Schools resides, is home for our closest neighbours, the Cree and the Nakoda. This territory, known as Treaty 6, is also home to the Métis Nation and many other Indigenous groups. We honor and acknowledge the unique story of this land and continue to work towards strengthening relations with Indigenous communities.

Etienna Moostoos-Lafferty is the Division Indigenous Education Coach and supports teachers, administrators, and division office staff in their commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation's Calls to Action (2015). Through her guidance and support, Etienna leads in the development of staff by:

• Obtaining practical strategies and materials for the full integration of Indigenous perspectives into each classroom
• Offering approaches for teaching Indigenous learners and working with Indigenous families
• Making connections to Elders, cultural instructors, and other resource people for authentic learning experiences
• Promoting further understanding of treaties and agreements negotiated with First Nations and the Métis in Canada
• Providing opportunities to learn about residential schools and their legacy
• Building on existing awareness of historical, social, economic, and political realities of Indigenous individuals/nations 
• Participating in whole schools events that foster understanding and respect for Indigenous cultures, languages and histories.
• Supporting staff in the attainment of school resources
• Broadening current practice to include pedagogy that is consistent with Indigenous ways of learning and knowing.

Indigenous education lead teachers from each school meet once a month to further their learning and build confidence in a variety of foundational knowledge areas.  

Through capacity building within school communities and enabling all school staff to embark on this journey, the positive effects will be felt in our hearts, minds, spirits’ and happily in our classrooms. Through this commitment, the students of Evergreen Catholic School Division will become the new co-creators of a promising future for all. 

Educational practices that are flexible and responsive to the strengths and needs of individual students can create learning experiences that ensure all students are reaching their potential.  St. John Paul II Catholic School offers various programs and opportunities for students to increase academic knowledge and strengthen skills in both core and elective courses.