Memos sent to parents/guardians are below:

• Memo - Notification of Trustee Decision (16/04/2019) (PDF)
• Memo - Release of the Final Report (05/04/2019) (PDF)
• Mobile Central High Feeder System Review; What We Heard and Frequently Asked Questions/Concerns (05/04/2019) (PDF)
• Memo - Final Reminder of Exchange Deadline (08/03/2019) (PDF)
• Memo - ThoughtExchange discussion extension (05/03/2019) (PDF)
• Memo - Reminder of ongoing ThoughtExchange consultation (01/03/2019) (PDF)
• Memo - Launch of ThoughtExchange consultation (19/02/2019) (PDF)
• Memo (30/01/2019) (PDF)

In the interest of informing school community discussion, the District released its Information Book for the Mobile Central High School System Review on January 30. The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on whether to move Grade 5 students from St. Bernard's Elementary to Mobile Central High School at its April 13, 2019 meeting.

• Information Booklet (30/01/2019) (PDF)

On January 17, 2019, Board trustee Jennifer Aspell and District staff met with the administrators and representatives of the St. Bernard's Elementary and Mobile Central High School school councils. Preliminary information was shared with the school councils at that time.

Trustees were presented with the information at their January 26, 2019 regular Board meeting. The District's presentation from those meetings can be found below.

As part of the District's efforts to ensure all members of a school community have an opportunity to provide input into the decision-making process, the District is taking a new approach to consultation with these school communities.

The District has engaged ThoughtExchange, a Canadian company with experience in school district communications throughout North America. ThoughtExchange will help the District provide an inclusive opportunity for all members of the school communities to participate in the decision-making process, and have their ideas and thoughts considered by their peers. The overall goal is to enhance the District's communication with stakeholders; enhance the transparency of the consultation process, and to ensure all members of the school communities have an equal opportunity to have a voice.

The District anticipates launching the ThoughtExchange public consultation opportunity for these school communities mid-late February, 2019.

• Presentation to Trustees (26/01/2019) (PDF)

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District is using a new way of collecting input by launching an online conversation with a tool called ThoughtExchange.

The results of this ThoughtExchange will help the District understand the ideas, values, and questions relating to the potential move of Grade 5 students from St. Bernard's Elementary to Mobile Central High School and help guide future planning initiatives.

All voices matter, so your participation will be crucial and valued.

Within this process, you will be prompted to add and verify your email address, and create a password you will remember in order to participate in this online conversation.

ThoughtExchange will allow you to share your own thoughts; consider and rate the thoughts of others, and learn what is important to the community. It will be important to not only share your thought, but explain why it is important, as it will help others determine if they agree. ThoughtExchange keeps confidential who shared each thought and who assigned what ratings.

Through ThoughtExchange, the District will engage with the school community in an attempt to ensure all members of the school community have an opportunity to share their thoughts and help inform the decision-making process.

The anticipated timeline is as follows. If there is a need to make a significant change to the anticipated timelines, school communities will be advised:

• January 17, 2019 - District meets with administrators and representatives of area school councils.
• Mid- late February, 2019 - The District will make ThoughtExchange opportunity available to school communities to provide input. The survey will be available for approximately 2 weeks.
• March, 2019 - A report of the 'Top Thoughts' shared through the ThoughtExchange online conversation will be shared with the school community. If necessary, a document of Frequently Asked Questions may be developed and shared with the community depending on the feedback received through the exchange. This information will also be shared with the Board of Trustees to help inform their perspectives for the upcoming vote on the motion currently before the Board.
• April 13, 2019 - Board trustees will vote on the proposed move of the Grade 5 students from St. Bernard's Elementary to Mobile Central High at their regularly scheduled public meeting.

The process for the Mobile Central High school feeder system review will include:

• Consultation with the school councils of the two schools involved;
• An inclusive survey mechanism (ThoughtExchange) will be provided for members of the school communities to voice ideas, values and questions to be considered during the review;
• A report on the results will be provided to the school community;
• The District and ThoughtExchange will analyze the information and results of the survey to understand any additional considerations that may need to be actioned; and,
• A public meeting of the Newfoundland and Labrador English School Board during which trustees will vote on whether the Grade 5 students currently configured for St. Bernard's Elementary will be moved to Mobile Central High School for the 2019-2020 school year.

It is important to note that no decisions concerning a move of the Grade 5 student population; nor any changes to take place as a result of the review process, would be implemented until September, 2019.

Should you have any questions about this process, please contact the Director of Schools for your school system:

Mobile Central High School Feeder System
(St. Bernard's Elementary, Mobile Central High School)
Daniel O'Brien · 758-2359 · danielobrien@nlesd.ca.