Richmond School District Builds on a Strong Foundation
Published on May 1, 2000

Richmond School District Number 53 in British Columbia provides an example of gracious communication under pressure. Two years ago, the district was asked by a large group of its Asian parents to open a traditional school. This was the second request for this type of school in as many years, and district administrators realized the need to properly research the underlying issues as well as create a dialogue with the city’s large Asian population. A parallel initiative to create a statement of educational principles for the district and the results from the traditional schools research report resulted in the district’s decision not to open a traditional school. Staff decided to commit every school to the principles of clarity, consistency and communication which they believed also form the basis of a traditional education. District staff established an initiative called Foundations to define clearly what was meant by the 3 C’s, and to begin the process of communicating these principles to every teacher, student and parent in the district. Teacher concerns that they had not been properly included in the development of Foundations were addressed.
ISBN – 1-894598-03-2