Board Highlights

Throughout Catholic Education Week, our school division celebrated the blessing of publicly funded Catholic education. The week began with Catholic Education Sunday Masses, as staff, students, and families gathered at local parishes across our communities to celebrate together.

Catholic Education Week was a powerful reminder of the true gift of Catholic Education. Thank you to our passionate educators and staff who bring Christ’s love alive every day, our families for their partnership and trust, our parish partners for walking alongside us, and our incredible students whose faith and light continue to inspire our entire community.

On October 14, 2026, students from St. Nicholas, St. Theresa, and Archbishop Jordan Catholic High School celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. Basil’s Ukrainian Catholic Church alongside Edmonton Catholic Schools. The liturgy was a beautiful celebration of Ukrainian faith, heritage, and culture. The Board was grateful to join colleagues and trustees from Edmonton Catholic Schools for the opportunity to share in this rich spiritual tradition and honour the longstanding partnership that supports Catholic Ukrainian bilingual programming.

On October 2, 2026, Trustees and administration joined Catholic leaders and community members at the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton for the Archbishop's Dinner. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with Archbishop Stephen Hero, clergy, and the greater Catholic community.

The Board of Trustees had the opportunity to meet with Strathcona County Mayor, Council and Executive Team. The Board expressed appreciation for this ongoing collaboration, which supports initiatives such as the Mental Health Capacity Building program and the School Resource Officer Program. Elk Island Catholic Schools looks forward to continued dialogue and joint advocacy to foster thriving Catholic educational communities throughout Strathcona County.

The Board of Trustees held their first professional development day on October 7th, 2026. Trustees dedicated time to developing their Trustee Assurance Plan for 2026/27, and building their advocacy positions for this year. They also spent some time reviewing their policies to ensure they are in alignment with forthcoming provincial regulations and standards. The Board is working towards strengthening their advocacy efforts to support Catholic Education.

Don Marceau, Chair of the REAL Foundation (Religious Education Activities for Life), presented the Board with a cheque for $29,000 to support religious activities in EICS schools.

Each year, the REAL Foundation works to raise funds that directly enrich the Catholic faith journey of students across Elk Island Catholic Schools. Thanks to the generosity of donors and volunteers, the foundation proudly co-sponsors Bibles for Grade 4 students, creating meaningful faith milestones they cherish for years to come. It also invests directly in student futures by awarding $1,000 scholarships to a graduate at each of the five division high schools, along with a dedicated $1,000 parish faith and leadership award. In addition to these awards, the foundation's funding supports vital spiritual programming, including student retreats and guest speakers. Following an annual budget review and wish-list assessment, the organization identified an opportunity to expand its support with an additional $29,000 this year. On behalf of the REAL Foundation, Don Marceau presented a cheque to EICS Board Chair Le-Ann Ewaskiw to continue strengthening faith, leadership, and community across the school division.

• Policy 2 - Role of the Board
• Policy 12 - Role of the Superintendent
• Policy 19 - Safe and Caring Learning Environments

The Board approved the proposed policy revisions for first reading. Before adopting formal changes, trustees will pause to review key provincial insights and legal directions. Specifically, the Board will await further guidance and resources shared by the Alberta School Boards Association during its upcoming Fall General Meeting. This ensures that any proposed revisions reflect the latest provincial standards, collective best practices, and legislative expectations across Alberta school divisions. Once the association’s guidance is gathered and reviewed, the Board will incorporate all necessary refinements into the draft policies. These updated documents will then return to the table for further consideration and final approval in November.

The division is taking a strategic approach to curriculum piloting this year to support future full implementation. We are prioritizing teacher capacity, providing clear expectations, and balancing centralized district direction with school-level flexibility. This means switching to a school-based opt-in rather than teacher by teacher. Support is provided through centralized professional development opportunities, such as Curriculum Camps, Lead Meetings, work-bees, and centralized resources.

All identified staff supporting students with regulation needs have completed Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (NVCI) training, facilitated by the EICS NVCI team across three professional development opportunities. Additionally, the NVCI team has visited all Flexible Pathways classrooms to provide individualized, classroom-specific training and support, strengthening staff capacity to respond proactively, safely, and consistently to student needs.

School Priority Meetings are well underway across the Division. Inclusive Learning Services (ILS) Consultants and Division Psychologists are meeting collaboratively with each school team to identify current student priorities, discuss emerging needs, and align divisional supports and services. These meetings strengthen school-division collaboration and support responsive, intentional planning and resource allocation to address the diverse needs of students.

Schools celebrated Read In Week in October. Trustess and administration had the opportunity to read some of their favourite stories to elementary students to share their love of reading!

With the exception of the summer, EICS' Board of Trustees host public board meetings once a month at 1:00 p.m. Unless stated otherwise, these meetings occur at EICS' Central Learning Services, 310 Broadview Road in Sherwood Park. Meetings are open to the public, and everyone is welcome to attend.

For information on delegations/presentations to the Board, please see Board Policy 6 s. 9 - Board Operations.

• September 16th, 2026 - Central Learning Services
• October 21st, 2026 - Camrose, St. Carlo Acutis Catholic School
• November 25, 2026 - Central Learning Services
• December 16th, 2026 - Central Learning Services
• January 13th, 2027 - Fort Saskatchewan, Location TBD
• February 17th, 2027 - Central Learning Services
• March 17th, 2027 - Central Learning Services
• April 21st, 2027 - Central Learning Services
• May 26th, 2027 - Central Learning Services
• June 16th, 2027 - Vegreville, Location TBD