Tips for Implementation - Principals’ Best

Principals know that children in their schools have the right to a safe, caring and inclusive environment. We asked principals across Alberta about what they have done to make their schools safe and caring. We’ve provided these innovative ideas to help with the implementation of SACSC programs and to inspire you to make your school even more safe and caring for Alberta's children.

We welcome tips and ideas from all schools. To add your inventive ideas to our list and your school to our safe and caring school list, please send your response by e-mail to the SACSC office: office@sacsc.ca. Please be sure to include you name, school and town/city.

Safe and Caring Ideas from Schools
(submitted between 1997 and 2001)

This list is in alphabetical order by city, then by school. Your best way to search for a topic is to use your Edit and Find functions and enter a key word. To link to a town/city to find a specific school, please click on the name to go to that section of the list.

Banff
Banff Elementary School

Barrhead
Barrhead Elementary School

Bon Accord
Bon Accord Community School

Bonnyville
H E Bourgoin School

Brooks
Central Elementary School
Eastbrook Elementary School

Calgary
Banting and Best Elementary School
Buchanan School
Conrich Elementary School
Penbrook Meadows School
R T Alderman School
Sir James Lougheed School
St Gerard School
Sundance Elementary School

Camrose
Chester Ronning School
Sifton School

Cardston
Cardston Junior High School

Cochrane
Cochrane High School
Elizabeth Barrett School
Manachaban School

Coaldale
R I Baker Junior High School

Dixonville
Dixonville School

Drayton Valley
Aurora Elementary School

Edberg
Edberg School

Edmonton
Blessed Kateri School
Cardinal Leger School
Delwood School
École Frère Antoine School
Elmwood School
Harry Ainlay School
Laurier Heights School
Mill Creek School
St Bernadette School
St Michael School
Wellington School
W P Wagner School

Edson
Westhaven School

Fort McMurray
École Dickensfield School

Grande Prairie
Aspen Grove School
Parkside Elementary School
Swanavon School

Hythe
Hythe Regional Junior High School

Irma
Irma School

Lacombe
Nelson School

Lethbridge
Lakeview Elementary School
Lethbridge Collegiate Institute
St Francis Jr High
Winston Churchill High School

Mannville
Mannville School

Mayerthorpe
Elmer Elson Elementary School

Medicine Hat
Alexandra Junior High School
Ross Glen School

Millet
Millet School

Peace River
Good Shepherd School

Picture Butte
St Catherine's School

Redcliff
Margaret Wooding School

Red Deer
Annie L Gaetz School
Maryview School

Redwater
Ochre Park School

Rocky Mountain House
Rocky Elementary School

St. Albert
Leo Nickerson Elementary
Vital Grandin School

Sherwood Park
Madonna School

Spruce Grove
Broxton Park School

Wainwright
Wainwright Elementary School

Warburg
Warburg School

Wetaskiwin
C B McMurdo School
Clear Vista School

Whispering Hills
Whispering Hills Primary School

Whitecourt
St Joseph School

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Safe and Caring Ideas from Safe and Caring Schools

Banff

Banff Elementary School
Students must feel safe and must feel listened to when they report a concern. Asking students to report all behavior that is negative requires an alert and concerned staff.
-Brian West

Barrhead

Barrhead Elementary School
We have a popular self-esteem and relationship-building program which covers such topics as problem solving, anger management, expressing feelings, making friends, name calling and teasing. Parents have been supportive and would like to see a continuation of this sort of programing.
-Leigh Ann Willard and Heather Dechant

Bon Accord

Bon Accord Community School
Our School Ethical Code of Conduct is modeled by our mascots Bonna and Baxter as they dramatize situations for our ECS to Grade 4 audience. Bonna and Baxter often have to help each other make the right choices when they are faced with dilemmas. Our school secretary and a teacher assistant don the bear suits for the monthly assemblies, and the children love them!
-Mary McGregor

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Bonnyville

H E Bourgoin School
Positive relationship building among our staff members and between our staff and students has become a key component of our success in developing a safe and caring school. A family closeness is modeled to the children every day by staff. Emotional, physical and intellectual bullying of any kind is not tolerated. The children know that we have high and clear expectations for everyone in the school.
-Barbara Spilchuk

Brooks

Central Elementary School
In one of our Grade 6 classes, the students are paired with Grade 2 students. One day, the Grade 6 students were teaching an intriguing concept, and the students were so involved in the process that all heads were down and working. What better way to learn a concept than by teaching it? This was a truly magical moment.
-Inge Ellefson

Eastbrook Elementary School
We phone parents when children are absent without notification. Every morning and afternoon, we make sure that all students are accounted for. The parents love it because they know their children are safe at school and that we care.
-Clive R P Joseph

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Calgary

Banting and Best Elementary School
Our student leadership program involves students in decision-making roles. Every student is taught the conflict-resolution process. Playground violence is at a minimum level because the students have taken greater ownership for their actions. We are proud of our students' accomplishments.
-Bill Gooliaff

Buchanan School
We have Superkid awards. Students who are caught doing a good deed are given a Superkid card to put in the draw. Each week one name is drawn from each classroom, and this person receives a Superkid pencil.
-Lois Brown

Conrich Elementary School
Our school has created a behavior plan which has expectations for students, parents and staff. During recognition assemblies, teachers acknowledge students who have demonstrated positive behaviors. This has made our school a very safe and caring place. We are a community.
-Wayne C Harlton

Penbrook Meadows School
At Penbrook Meadows, the staff model positive behavior and promote a safe and caring school. Through the Bully Proofing program, students have learned to solve problems in a respectful and nonviolent way. Other ways we promote dealing with conflict positively follow:
personal goal setting through the Kiwanis Club Terrific Kids Program,
peer mediation,
bully-proofing buttons earned by students,
Star of the Week program and
parental support.
-Sandy McAlister

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R T Alderman School
At R T Alderman Junior High School, the RTA Way describes everyone's rights and responsibilities. It is the way we do things. All concerns and issues are filtered through the RTA Way. Students believe in it, it is visible and it works.
-Bill McWilliam

Sir James Lougheed School
The motto at our school is We Care. An important factor that contributes to a safe and caring school is a well-defined discipline policy. Our policy includes (1) a discipline cycle, (2) computerization of the discipline incidents and consequences and (3) communications with the home.
-Janet Hildebrant

St Gerard School
We have developed a behavior code contract for students which highlights students' rights and responsibilities at school. When new students register, they are invited to review the contract with their teacher, as well as with their parents, before signing it. These contracts are kept at school and are the basis for creating our safe and caring school.
-Esther Digianvittorio

Sundance Elementary School
Our staff does an outstanding job of regularly identifying students who exhibit the 3 Rs (Reason, Respect and Responsibility) and the 3 Cs (Cooperation, Consideration and Caring). Private Eye awards are given out, and recipients' names appear on a student recognition bulletin board.
-Dennis McCrackin

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Camrose

Chester Ronning School
Our Learning to Care program allows students to volunteer with our integrated special needs students, with senior citizens and with younger students. The result is a much improved commitment to learning and to helping each other.
-Gerry Lawrence

Sifton School
In a safe and caring school, there must be decency and respect for
the feelings of others,
the physical well-being of others,
the property of others,
school rules,
classroom rules,
a teacher's authority and
school property and equipment.
-M Saby

Cardston

Cardston Junior High School
We, like many schools over the years, have experienced difficulty with violence in the hall—pushing, shoving, threats, etc. To bring an end to these difficulties, all the staff agreed that when the bell goes, every teacher will open the door and be in the halls to make our school a school of Helping Other People Excel in a safe and caring atmosphere.
-R Cameron Leavitt

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Cochrane

Cochrane High School
It is school policy for a counselor and an administrator to visit all classes two or three times each semester to get student feedback and to focus on each student's right to be and to feel safe at our school.
-Rick McDonald

Elizabeth Barrett School
As the first four lines of our school song suggest, a strong focus on character education is at the heart of the education programs at Elizabeth Barrett School.
At Elizabeth Barrett School we think caring is cool
And Peacemakers are here everywhere
We learn to talk it out, That's what school's all about
Learning to show we care . . .
-Deb Rougeau-Bell

Manachaban School
Students And Continuous
At Manachaban Middle School Noticed And
Feel Due to Responsive
Empowered Interactions
Nurtured by Staff
Going that extra mile!
-Brian D Boese

Coaldale

R I Baker Junior High School
This year, we initiated a committee to review the climate of our junior high school. We meet every week to discuss and suggest changes to make our school a better place for students and staff. Through our talks in our committee, we came up with the committee name of SCUD—School Climate Under Review.
-Wayne Street

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Dixonville

Dixonville School
The school staff, school council and our board trustee have just completed work on a school discipline policy. Grade 4, 5 and 6 students volunteer as Friendly Helpers on the playground to assist younger students with problems. The junior high students have weekly meetings with the principal where they discuss specific concerns with the whole group.
-Barb Zinselmeyer

Drayton Valley

Aurora Elementary School
We arranged for a needy child to have her hair done in a beauty culture class. A teacher obtained groceries for the family from the local food bank, and the school council provides a hot lunch when needed.
-K Rhyason

Edberg

Edberg School
We are setting up a buddy system for an autistic child—all students in Grades 6 to 8 take a turn being this student's buddy. Our goal is to socially integrate the student. It's our role as community members.
-Bryan Laskosky

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Edmonton

Blessed Kateri School
Junior high students who do not go home for lunch are on our Closed Campus over lunch hour. Students are not allowed to leave the school grounds. As a result, teachers are committed to providing numerous activities and increased supervision. Fifty students have things to do and places to be.
-Bob Steele

Cardinal Leger School
We have a six-minute time slot at the end of the day called Base Community, during which every staff member takes a group of 20 students. Activities are provided to assist in developing positive relationships among all students. The student groups are interchanged every few weeks; this helps to break down animosity and develops good student relations.
-Larry Rankin

Delwood School
A monthly prosocial skill is selected, taught, reviewed, reinforced and recognized schoolwide. Senior students present a prepared script and role-play at an assembly to introduce the skill. Teachers review and reinforce the skill in class. Information to parents is included in the school newsletter. Students demonstrating the skill are rewarded with a Student Pride Office Referral.
-Laurie Elkow

École Frère Antoine School
Grade 6 students are trained in conflict resolution for our Conflict-Management Team. As a result, students receive specific steps and suggestions from fellow students.
-Lucille Charrois

Elmwood School
Our students are raising funds (through sponsors such as Capital City Savings) with a schoolwide reading initiative. The funds are being sent to a school in the Saguenay region of Québec whose library was destroyed by flooding.
-Clint McElwaine

Harry Ainlay School
At Harry Ainlay, we have established a School Harmony Committee which has the mandate to identify issues that may cause conflicts and to recommend practices to help overcome potential conflicts. The recommendations will be incorporated into the school's action plan.
-M Demaine

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Laurier Heights School
Junior high classes are paired with elementary classes several times per year for joint activities. Elementary students then feel secure knowing that the older students care about them.
-Gerry Maguire

Mill Creek School
Teachers and staff have highlighted one prosocial skill to teach each month. Skills include cooperation, respect and manners. Once a month, students are recognized in school assemblies for the good things they are doing to make our school a safe and caring place.
-Edgar Schmidt

St Bernadette School
Our climate committee is SECOND TO NONE! Through careful planning and research, the climate committee creates a school environment where learning can thrive! Students and staff are valued and celebrated.
-Carol Bahry

St Michael School
Last year, our school began The TLC (Tender, Loving, Care) Center. The center is made up of the warm and cozy offices of our school counselor and social worker. These two people work with children, parents, teachers and members of the community in key areas such as conflict management, problem-solving and friendship-making skills. Children are gaining strategies to become successful members of society.
-Reny L Clericuzio

Wellington School
Our goal to establish a safe and caring environment has been successfully demonstrated through our Positive Recognition program. Students who demonstrate the encouraged behaviors are rewarded with weekly SPOTS (Students Proud Of Their School) prize draws.
-Peter Harris

W P Wagner School
At W P Wagner School of Science and Technology, we hold an annual student conference to recognize the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Our key student organizers are those involved with the Kind Heart Club. The curriculum commitment made by our staff in their subject area, the participation by our students and the support from the Northern Alberta Alliance for Race Relations continue to make this day successful.
-P Christensen and M Lindsay

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Edson

Westhaven School
Inspired by Positive Discipline in the Classroom, by Jane Nelson, teachers Jane Marcoff and Lynn Walker embraced the concept of classroom meetings. The results have been so positive that, in addition to inservicing the entire staff on class meetings, Jane and Lynn recently offered a very well-received information session on class meetings to all Grande Yellowhead teachers.
-Jan Ruhl

Fort McMurray

École Dickensfield School
At École Dickinsfield School, we have established a steering committee to develop an anti-bullying program in our school. Our vision is that it will be very apparent to anyone entering our school that we are taking a stand against bullying. On the playground and in the classroom, we want to have all staff and students speaking a common language about bullying behaviors, and we want the program to be educational, not punitive.
-Sharon Turner

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Grande Prairie

Aspen Grove School
Our students, teachers and parents jointly developed a Discipline and Responsibility Manual which defines behavior expectations for all areas of the school. An accompanying parent/student booklet is sent home with each child. It includes a contract form to be returned to the school. This helps us achieve our mission to strive for excellence in education and to nurture responsible, caring citizens.
-Jane McGarty

Parkside Elementary School
The students, staff and families at Parkside care. Parent volunteers phone to ensure that no child is lost or unaccounted for. Children receive a special Well Done note from a staff member when they act unselfishly. Grade 4, 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to participate in student leadership programs.
-Kip Kurylo

Swanavon School
Besides our noon-hour intramurals, we provide before- and after-school programs for students in the form of gym and computer room activities. The students really enjoy this time with staff, and parents are most appreciative of these extended opportunities to show that we care.
-Roger Mestinsek

Hythe

Hythe Regional Junior High School
Vice-principal Rosalie Jenner is a kind and caring person. She instils respect in the students, staff and visitors to our school. We all love her very much!
-Victor Fines

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Irma

Irma School
We donate nonperishable food items, toys or money to the Christmas Wish Campaign instead of having a gift exchange in classrooms. This year, we were responsible for collecting over $250 and a truckload of nonperishable food items and toys for the needy families of our area.
-Duane Bray

Lacombe

Nelson School
Our school has endorsed the Lions-Quest program in cooperation with the local Lions Club and other schools in our region. We have school assemblies where staff role-play appropriate social skills. The staff involvement in these role-plays makes them a fun learning experience.
-Isabel Wymann

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Lethbridge

Lakeview Elementary School
Our school has two classes at each grade level (Grades 1 to 6). Each week, each classroom conducts a 30-minute class meeting in order to allow students to discuss and resolve, through discussion, issues of safety both in the school and on the playground. Students record incidents in a classroom book throughout the week.
-Brian Walker

Lethbridge Collegiate Institute
Lethbridge Collegiate Institute has a Renaissance Program that is based on the principles of respect, recognition, reinforcement and rewards. We seek input from staff and students about what makes our school safe and caring. This year, we have encouraged students to become more involved in decision making at the school. As a result, they feel more a part of the school and take better care of the school and of each other.
-Carol Steen

St Francis Jr High
Who cares? We do! We added St Francis to the Who Cares? poster in the staff room at our school. It is a constant reminder to the staff that we ensure a safe and caring environment for our students. The poster tells it all.
-Submitted for principal David O'Dwyer by Julie Rook

Winston Churchill High School
Upon entry into Winston Churchill, each student is assigned a teacher advisor whose role is to provide guidance for the student throughout his or her high school career. This big brother/big sister role advocates on behalf of the student, communicates with the home and provides a caring, supportive relationship to assist the students with goal setting and career focus.
-Carol Steen

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Mannville

Mannville School
At Mannville School, we support the safe and caring school concept through our annual Elementary Awards program. A student in each of the grades from 1 through 6, who is kind, courteous, respectful and considerate to adults and peers, is recognized with a Heart of Gold plaque. A new award is the Niska Award, which will recognize a student in each of the grades who has shown improved behavior toward others.
-Lil Carter

Mayerthorpe

Elmer Elson Elementary School
Instead of exchanging gifts at Christmas, in our school students contribute food, clothing and toys to the Community Food Hamper. A Christmas trolley is circulated and returns brimming with Christmas spirit. We care!
-Roy Barker

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Medicine Hat

Alexandra Junior High School
Last year, parents, students and staff worked together to develop a Code of Conduct for Alexandra School. The code encourages each stakeholder in the school community (parents, students and teachers) to do their part to help students become positive, productive citizens. A copy of our Expectations and Responsibilities is available upon request.
-Glen Giduk

Ross Glen School
We have a KIDS Program—Grade 6 students are available on the playground to help younger kids who have problems, fights or disagreements. They don't take sides; they help kids work out their problems with the intent that the younger students will be prepared to work out future problems themselves.
-Bruce Brandt

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Millet

Millet School
Millet School has many programs in place that support a safe and caring learning environment. One program we are pleased with is our classroom meetings. All teachers have been trained to organize and run classroom meetings. These weekly classroom sessions allow students and teachers to work together to share compliments, concerns and issues.
-Submitted by Dorothy Comfort (vice-principal), Shelley Hamilton (guidance counselor) and Kevin Gibson (principal)

Millet School
A number of programs make Millet School a Safe and Caring School. Our "classroom meetings" help students to solve problems in a helpful rather than harmful way. We are piloting the Effective Behavior Supports program through SACS. By working through "Problem Solvers" in physical education classes, students learn strategies that they can use in many situations involving conflict.
-Kevin Gibson

Peace River

Good Shepherd School
Our school is called Good Shepherd School. The central symbol of the school is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and his followers, the sheep. We wanted our conflict resolution process to reflect this symbolism. STARR is a sheepdog who is intelligent and kind, firm but loving. The letters spell out the steps of the process:
S-Stay still; stay calm
T-Tag and identify the problem
A-Alternatives or choices
R-Resolve the problem
R-Reconciliation
-Submitted for principal Dana Laliberte by Mary Anne O'Byrne, family and school liaison

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Picture Butte

St Catherine's School
St Catherine's School is currently in the second year of a unique incentive program for our ECS to Grade 9 students. The PIE (Positive Incentive Education) program allows all staff members to reward students for positive actions and behavior that may normally go unnoticed. This project has reinforced a positive and caring learning environment for the staff, students and school community. We hope to expand this program in the coming school year.
-Dave Adams

Redcliff

Margaret Wooding School
We implemented the Bully Proofing Your School program. It is a comprehensive, preventive program designed to stop bullying at the elementary level and to ensure a safer school environment. Students and staff are trained to deal with bullying situations more effectively, and innocent bystanders have been empowered to react in positive, helpful ways.
-Stewart Thomas

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Red Deer

Annie L Gaetz School
We hold weekly assemblies for student recognition and school spirit. It is a real family time, and often 50 to 100 parents attend. Assemblies feature Student of the Week awards, birthday celebrations, student recognition awards, library awards, presentations by classes and the school song.
-Alan Cooper

Maryview School
No 1-Twice Daily Home Attendance Checks
No 2-Monthly Happy Assemblies
No 3-Annual Adopt-A-Family Program
No 4-Zero Tolerance for Fighting and Bullying
-Jamie McNamara

Redwater

Ochre Park School
Ochre Park School has only two rules: (1) safety and (2) consideration for self and others. To ensure that our school is safe and caring, all students are expected to know these rules and to govern their behavior accordingly. Our goal is to have students use reason to decide what behavior is appropriate, rather than simply memorize school rules.
-Adrian J Boddez

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Rocky Mountain House

Rocky Elementary School
At Rocky Elementary, staff and students are striving to create a peaceful school. We are committed to a program that involves implementing an effective conflict-resolution plan by teaching skills to all students and inservicing parents so they can use these skills at home.
-L Bowers

St. Albert

Leo Nickerson Elementary
Our True Colors incentive program encourages all staff, including office staff, custodians and bus drivers, to enter students' names on ballots when students are observed demonstrating the following admirable qualities:
C - co-operation
O - open-mindedness
L - listening
O - organization
R - respect and responsibility
S - sharing and caring
During twice-monthly assemblies, the names of two students are drawn and those students are taken out for lunch by the principal or assistant principal.
-Glenys Edwards

Vital Grandin School
We have a whole-day workshop for Grade 5 students—Towards Peaceful Solutions—in response to school and parent concerns that students are choosing aggressive means to solve playground problems. The workshop consists of a series of presentations and discussions with the administrator, a psychologist, a lifeskills worker and a presenter from the Stop Abuse in Families Society.
-Tom Turner

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Sherwood Park

Madonna School
Some classes begin the day by gathering in the corridor and singing a morning praise. It has become a regular practice—two or three times per week!
-Garry Nostransky

Spruce Grove

Broxton Park School
At Broxton Park School, we support the safe and caring school concept through our Community Support Worker project. This project includes partnerships with the following groups: Paul Band First Nations, Victim Services, Family and Community Support Services, Westview Regional Health Services and Big Brothers and Sisters.
-Becky Pretti

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Wainwright

Wainwright Elementary School
A Grade 2 teacher experienced the effectiveness of asking a hyperactive/attention deficit disorder student to help a dependent, handicapped student who is in a wheelchair: both students are extremely delighted with the arrangement and are remaining on task.
-Harold Pullyblank

Warburg

Warburg School
There is a policy each morning and afternoon to do a safety check by calling every home which has a student who is absent. The parents appreciate that the school is concerned about their child.
-Henry H Kozak

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Wetaskiwin

C B McMurdo School
The formation of Peace Patrol at C B McMurdo School has contributed to making it a safe and caring school. For the past four years, we have trained Grade 5 and 6 students in the process of conflict mediation. Students in these grades volunteer to be on duty on a rotational basis at noon hour to assist supervisors when conflicts arise. The students work through a mediation process with students involved in conflict to help them reach a peaceful solution.
-Trudy McMurdo

Clear Vista School
The Peer Support Team enlists support from peers to provide a safe and caring environment through a project called We Do It With Class. Emphasis is placed on supportive behaviors. The staff goal is to recognize every student by the end of the year.
-Paul Holte

Whispering Hills

Whispering Hills Primary School
Our staff was looking for a program that young children could use to help them solve their problems. A special education teacher designed a problem-solving model appropriate for children aged five to eight. We have found it to be successful. Children solve their own problems, and teachers demonstrate how to work through conflict with respect and without violence through modeling.
-Merla Bolender

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Whitecourt

St Joseph School
We have a Student Time Out program. Any student who feels that confrontational interaction (with staff or students) is escalating to the point that something regrettable will be said or done is expected to remove himself or herself from the situation and report to the office. The office is viewed as a neutral place where constructive problem solving occurs before disciplinary action is required.
-Gerry Melanson

We welcome tips and ideas from all schools. To add your inventive ideas to our list, and add your school to our safe and caring school list, please send your response to the SACSC email address. office@sacsc.ca Please be sure to include you name, school, and town/city.

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