The Leader - 27/10/2025

Regular Meeting of the Board

October 27, 2025 

All reports for this meeting can be found HERE.

Student Showcase: Ziibi Jonathan, Waterford Public School  

Ziibi Jonathan is a Grade 4 student at Waterford Public School. She is Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee from the Odawa and Mohawk Nations, and is a member of the communities of Wiikwemkoong and Six Nations of the Grand River. As soon as Ziibi could walk, she was following her family’s lead in powwow dancing, taking part in gatherings celebrating Indigenous culture through song and dance all over North America. She performs what’s known as fancy dance, the fastest and most athletic of the female dances. She loves to teach others about her culture through the power of dance, and shares this in her school and community at events and performances.

 Ziibi Jonathan, Waterford Public School  Ziibi Jonathan, Waterford Public School

 

Learn Lead Inspire Award

Corey Mehlenbacher, Simcoe Composite School 

In his role as a secondary teacher, Corey Mehlenbacher exemplifies the transformative power of education. Whether in his math and vocational classrooms or in the larger school community, he cultivates a culture of high expectations, promoting student achievement through measurable and meaningful methods. By fostering a sense of belonging and supporting students’ social-emotional learning, he addresses their needs holistically. A reflective learner himself, he adapts and evolves his teaching practices to best serve his students. Through modelling what successful strategies look like, he empowers his students to work through barriers and challenges. He also prioritizes building strong connections between home and school, inviting and fostering family involvement in students’ success. Mr. Mehlenbacher’s dedication shapes futures, ignites passions and transforms his students’ educational experiences, capturing the spirit of the Learn Lead Inspire award. Read more here

 


Annual Learning and Operating Plans   

 

The final report of Grand Erie’s Annual Learning and Operating Plan (ALOP) was presented Monday. The ALOP serves as a check-in point to measure and monitor success. It looks at implementation of strategies, success criteria and evidence of impact at all levels of the organization, and is rooted in the board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan, the five-year path that guides its work. The ALOP’s final report closes the 2024-25 school year, and opens the new Annual Learning and Operating Plan for the 2025-26 school year, which was also presented to the Board on Monday.


Multi-Year Strategic Plan Process

 

Grand Erie’s current Multi-Year Strategic Plan was approved by Trustees for 2021-26 and has served as a guiding document focused on learning, well-being and belonging. Over the past four years, Grand Erie has made meaningful and measurable progress, strengthening literacy and math achievement, deepening student engagement, investing in staff capacity, and enhanced mental health and well-being supports. This has laid the foundation for what comes next. Over the next year, as the current Plan concludes, Grand Erie will engage students, staff, families and community partners to help determine key priorities for the future. Stay tuned. 

 


Policy and Program Updates  

 

Policies including Accessibility, School Councils, and the Naming and Renaming of Schools and Facilities, as well as reports including Elementary Class Size were brought to the Board of Trustees on Monday. For the full list of policies and reports, see pages 24 to 44 of the Board Package

Director’s Report Highlights

Grand River Public School Celebrates Grand Opening 

Students, families and staff from the newly opened Grand River Public School were on hand October 6 to cut the ribbon that officially marked the milestone of completion on the major building project many years in the making. Grand River Public School is now home to the Herons – a name chosen by the school community. Through a collaboration with the artist Raymond Skye, a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, it now has a visual identity rooted in a deep appreciation for the natural world and its teachings.

 


You Belong… at a Grand Erie Secondary School

Grand Erie secondary schools offer welcoming environments, myriad opportunities and supportive communities dedicated to helping learners reach their full potential. The secondary team has taken that message on the road this month, connecting with families at regional fairs, and organizing the Grand Pathways events, meant to help those new to secondary plan successful next steps.

 

Read the full Director's Report.