Welcome Back Message from Jill Jensen, Superintendent of Schools

Dear Students, Families and Staff,

I love the start of the school year with all its fresh hopefulness and beginning-ness. It begins with the promise of new learning, friendships and stories, while reconnecting us with the familiar people, places, and experiences that welcome us back. To me, the start of the school year always feels full of open and endless possibility. 

Educating is collective work for which we all have responsibility. I am grateful to our teachers, principals, and educational support staff who work diligently to create safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning experiences for students. I am grateful to our operations team who ensure that our facilities and grounds are cared for and ready for staff and students, and our buses and water taxis run efficiently and safely. I am grateful to our district team who work to keep all the various parts of our systems working effectively together. 

I am grateful to our trustees who provide inspirational and steadfast direction, championing public education in Gulf Islands School District and good governance. I am grateful to our families who are our students’ first and most important teachers, who entrust us with teaching their children and are key partners in learning. 

As human beings, we are always learning. My hope as we enter a new school year is that we keep the First Peoples Principles of Learning at the heart of our work, remembering that “learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place)”. In a world where knowledge is at our fingertips, I believe we need to focus on the competencies that highlight our humanity, including critical and creative thinking, curiosity, reflection, and personal and social awareness. Learning is always personal and it is also always deeply relational. Cultivating care and respect for self, others and place deepens learning. I am reminded of a quote by Kobayashi Issa that says,

The path worth taking,

Lies in the tangled forests

Between heart and mind.

As we enter a fresh cycle of learning this school year, I hope we will each meet it with an open mind and heart, and a deepening awareness of our relationships with one another and the world around us. I look forward to a rich year of learning with you all.

Yours in learning and with gratitude,

Jill Jensen

Superintendent of Schools