As director of education at Creighton School Division, Bob Smith has aimed to support student and staff growth.
Now after five years with the division, he is preparing to step down next month. Health complications have him leaving the post earlier than he had hoped, but his impact on the one-school division has not gone unnoticed.
“[Smith] had very high expectations for everyone,” said Jason Straile, principal of Creighton Community School. “I think it’s always a great thing to have high expectations, because people rise to those expectations.
“With Bob here, I’ve seen a difference in the academics of our students and our energy within the school.”
After 39 years in education in three different provinces, Smith has acquired a clear understanding of how to set expectations – and help students and staff meet them.
Smith started out as a classroom teacher in Fort St. John BC, in 1977, at a school where he eventually became principal. He later went on to serve as a principal in Fort McMurray AB and Hanna AB, where he became deputy superintendent.
When he started in the director’s job in Creighton, Smith said he aimed to get a clear understanding of the school’s dynamics before making any major changes.
“I asked a lot of questions at first, trying to understand: why do we do things this way?” he said.
As he examined the answers to those questions, Smith challenged staff to clarify the reasons behind decisions and review practices that were no longer useful.
“Because you did something 30 years ago isn’t necessarily a good reason for doing it nowadays,” he said.
Smith then aimed to strengthen the quality of programming in the division through data-driven decision making.
“One of the things I’ve tried to do is to try and have some data upon which to be making decisions,” he explained.
Smith encouraged staff to consider how they might collect data to measure and evaluate the success of initiatives in the classroom and the school at large.
“Perceptions are one part of data, but they aren’t the entire story,” he said.
Measuring students’ literacy has been an area where data gathering has helped educators gain a clearer perspective on the student population.
In its 2020 Plan for Growth, the Saskatchewan government has set a goal for 80 per cent of the province’s Grade 3 students to be reading at or above grade level by June 2018.
Smith said that by using common literacy assessment tools across the grades, the division has been able to observe gaps in literacy, and progress as well, as they work toward this goal.
With assessment data in hand, the school has been able to better measure the impact of various initiatives, such as employing a literacy support teacher, providing reading support for students who need it and involving various agencies in the school in focusing on literacy.
As he prepares to leave Creighton, Smith has high praise for the school and division.
“It’s like a big family,” he said. “There is lots of commitment from teachers and everyone is committed to make students’ achievement a high priority.”
As for his own career in education, Smith looks back on the four decades with fondness.
“Kids are the same – they haven’t changed that much over time,” he said. “The vast majority are good kids and it’s fun to be around them.”
“I’ve had a long career,” he added, with a smile. “And it was fun.”
Blaine Veitch, the outgoing superintendent of the Flin Flon School Division, will replace Smith.
