Superintendent's Message

“The Greater Victoria School District is committed to each student's success in learning within a responsive and safe environment.”

Welcome back to a new school year. A new year that promises to bring fresh and innovative opportunities to our classrooms and a new year to make a wonderful difference in the lives of our students. We are extremely fortunate to live in a community that puts such a strong value on education. As we begin this school year I know it takes exceptional staff, informed parents and an involved community to create the best possible arena for learning.

Our students will soon be in classes, expanding their horizons and learning in a personalized style that is relevant and engaging. The Greater Victoria School District continues to move beyond our current methodologies to implement new ways of learning. We continue to improve thanks to your advice, support and belief in the Greater Victoria School District.

As we reopen our schools, we are very mindful that all of our students must be engaged in their education and experiences. Within our current and future context of rapid societal and cultural changes, it is essential that each of our pupils is motivated to learn by seeing the personal relevance in their studies. For young people to study at high levels, they must have access to twenty-first century curriculum that both inspires as well as challenges them. The Greater Victoria School District believes in meeting these challenges by realizing the individual talents, abilities and passions of each student.

The Greater Victoria School District is clearly focused on the children of our community and their active engagement in learning. Each student comes to our schools with hopes, aspirations and dreams of achievement and success. These hopes, aspirations and dreams may vary from discovering how to read and write to solving equations, from exploring new ideas to making new friends. No student sets out to fail. As educators, we must continue to track and support the adults of tomorrow. Though our provincial government exam results for our high school students remain above, and in some cases significantly above, the provincial average, we must continue to be supportive and create new ways of engaging each of our students. We must continue to provide an education in an environment that is safe and has mutually respectful relationships, regardless of one’s race, colour, gender, sexual orientation or any other bias or discrimination.

We are determined to educate all of our students for living in a twenty-first century that is complex, swift and demanding of changes. We are committed to providing this education with knowledge, skills and aptitudes that each young person requires now and in the future.

Our commitment to you is that the Greater Victoria School District will continue to strive in providing the best education possible so that all students will be inspired to learn and to understand their individual potential in becoming skillful and thoughtful citizens. Student achievement remains our highest priority.

John Gaiptman
Superintendent of Schools