Superintendent’s 2024-25 Welcome Letter
Dear Families,
We hope you enjoyed the summer break and are settling in nicely to your new school year routines. Earlier in the month, we welcomed more than 20,000 new and returning students to our 47 schools located throughout Victoria, Esquimalt, Oak Bay, View Royal, Saanich, and the Highlands—traditional territories of the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations on which we live, learn, and do our work.
At the beginning of each school year, we are reminded of our collective vision to provide each student with opportunities to fulfill their potential and pursue their aspirations. We are grateful for the collaboration between Rightholders, students, staff, families, partners, and the wider community that makes this vision a reality.
This school year also marks the final year of our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. We remain committed to creating equitable, accessible, and safe learning environments that support and improve all learners’ personal and academic success. Throughout the year we look forward to continuing our focus on student achievement with an emphasis on career development, early years, literacy, and numeracy.
Supporting all learners’ physical and mental well-being will also continue to be a priority, as social-emotional learning, physical literacy, and mental health literacy are key factors in improving outcomes for students.
Whether you are registering a child in StrongStart or Kindergarten, supporting a grade-level learner, hosting an international student, or enrolling yourself in a Continuing Education program, we are excited to support you, your family, and all who are connected to our learning community.
We wish you success during your school start-up and throughout the year ahead.
Sincerely,
Deb Whitten
Superintendent of Schools
This message is also available in:
Greater Victoria School District No. 61
Communications
community@sd61.bc.ca