CommUnity - Summer 2026 – CommUnity – Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board

Through the dedication of our educators, support staff, students, and families, we have translated our mission into lived faith-filled learning experiences across every classroom and hallway. We are now eagerly preparing to launch our new 2026–2029 Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP). This new roadmap will securely guide our next three years. Shaped by the voices of our students, parents, staff, parishes, diocese, and invaluable guidance from Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash leadership, this plan is a true reflection of our community.

Rooted entirely in our Catholic Faith, Values & Mission, the upcoming MYSP establishes three core strategic streams that will shape our future. I am thrilled to share how our recent successes have perfectly positioned us to take on these new goals.

The Learning Journey

Vision in Action: Faith, Inclusion & Well-Being

Celebrating Our Progress: Our Catholic faith calls us to create climates of deep care. Our schools have done some incredible work to ensure that each student feels seen, valued, and loved as a Child of God by teaching school-wide expectations and practices that build the Catholic culture of the school. This work that has been started will continue as we define the ways in which we extend Martha's Welcome as part of our Catholic identity. Our Parish Partnerships are thriving with joint initiatives like our community food drives and faith pilgrimages. We have also successfully introduced a synodal practice of our Principals and deanery priests meeting together to listen to each other and build stronger partnerships that support the home-school-parish triad. We will continue these synodal meetings in 2026-2027 and beyond.

Looking Ahead (Uphold Dignity & Unity): Moving forward, we are committed to ensuring welcoming, inclusive Catholic schools. We will deliver inclusive pastoral care that supports all learners and families, and enhance parish and community partnerships. We are committed to ensuring every member of our community—regardless of background, faith, ability, or identity—experiences a school grounded in dignity and Christ’s compassion. As part of our new Multi-Year Strategic Plan, we will be developing and introducing a structured approach to welcoming all visitors to the school, including a specific focus on newcomers, delivering inclusive pastoral care, and deepening our essential parish and community partnerships.

Snapshot: Our Strategic Progress by the Numbers

Here is a snapshot of some of our monitoring data points:

EQAO 3-Year Trends & Literacy Growth

Grade 3 Reading: Up 13% over the past three years to reach 79%.
Grade 3 Writing & Math: Writing improved by nearly 8% (to 62%), and math increased by 2% (to 59%).
Grade 6 Reading: Increased by 4% to reach 89%.
Grade 6 Math: Achieved a 12% increase highlighted by the Ministry of Education, demonstrating strong growth supported by our explicit instruction models.
OSSLT: 84% success rate for first-time eligible students.

Tremendous Individual School Cohort Growth in Literacy

Across the board, our schools demonstrated remarkable cohort improvement, with students showing substantial growth in both reading and writing as they progressed from their Grade 3 assessments to their Grade 6 results. We want to give special recognition to the schools that achieved a perfect 100% success rate in these subjects, while also celebrating the incredible leaps made across all our school communities:

Grade 6 Reading: Mary Immaculate Community School (+40.0%), Holy Family Catholic School (+16.7%), St. Peter & St. Paul's Catholic School (+11.8%), and Immaculate Conception Catholic School (+9.4%) achieved a perfect 100% success rate!

We also celebrate the incredible cohort growth at STC (+21.4%), STA (+20.0%), NDM (+8.0%), and STJ (+7.5%), alongside strong continued high achievement at MSH.

Grade 6 Writing: Mary Immaculate Catholic School (+40.0%), Sacred Heart School Mildmay (+11.1%), and Immaculate Conception Catholic School (+6.2%) achieved a perfect 100% success rate!

We also celebrate the fantastic cohort growth at STC (+59.0%), STA (+40.1%), HF (+28.5%), STJ (+28.5%), ND (+27.6%), and SPP (+5.8%).

System & Well-Being Metrics

Math Intervention: +32% capacity increase across priority schools, actively supporting 83 students.
Formative Assessment: 81.8% classroom usage rate of mini-whiteboards for real-time instructional feedback.
Climate of Care: 100% of physical school sites have successfully posted and taught schoolwide behavioural expectations matrices.
Staff Confidence: 68.9% of surveyed educators report being very to extremely confident in using emotionally attuned classroom strategies introduced this year.
Community Faith & Stewardship: 100% completion of CST Parish Partnerships & Laudato Si' action plans across all schools:
- Ecological Stewardship: Earth Hour light-outs, municipal cleanups, Litterless Lunches, Hanover Zero Waste Challenges, and "Take Me Outside Day".
- Charity & Community Outreach: Lenten "40 Cans / 40 Days" drives, "Open Table" community dinners, Hike for Hospice & Children's Hospital almsgiving, and local food bank support.
- Inclusion, Dignity & Indigenous Awareness: Observance of Pink Shirt Day, Accessibility & Down Syndrome Awareness, MMIWG2S Red Dress & Orange Shirt Days, Pride Month affirmations, and student nutrition advocacy ("Great Big Crunch").

Academic Achievement & Pathways

Celebrating Our Progress: Alongside our phenomenal EQAO literacy and numeracy growth, we saw outstanding engagement in post-secondary transition programmes, proudly supporting Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) students and registered Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) participants.

By the Numbers: Post-Secondary Pathways Enrolment

Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) 270 Students

Dual Credits (Georgian College) 80 Students

Registered OYAP 64 Students

Specialized Placements (Project SEARCH, SWAC, etc.) 13 Students

*Data reflects 2025-2026 Academic Year

Looking Ahead (Strengthen Learning & Achievement): Our new MYSP will build on these strong foundations to continue to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes. We will also establish and maintain consistent learning standards, ensuring equitable access to pathways, programs, and transitions.

Stewardship & Space: Caring for Our Systems

Looking Ahead (Deliver Well-being & Stewardship):

To support our people, we must strengthen our systems. Our upcoming strategic stream focuses on promoting board-wide well-being by addressing rural mental health access, establishing consistent approaches to student safety in all common spaces, and implementing a Hire-to-Retire pathway to foster staff resilience.

We are also looking at the physical future of our spaces. We will be actively developing Mission Hubs that unify health, recreation, and family support systems directly inside our schools, and we are preparing capital packages to address long-term regional enrollment growth.

Woven through all of these new initiatives are five themes that will define our daily work: Resilience, Equity & Consistency, Data & Evidence, Fiscal Responsibility, and Reconciliation & Indigenous Education.

I wish you and your loved ones a safe, restful, and blessed summer. We look forward to embarking on this exciting new chapter with you in the fall, continuing to let our light shine.

Yours in Catholic Education,

Karyn Bruneel

CEO / CEdO

Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board