News Stories

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An overview of discussion items and major decisions of the Board of Education of School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake). For meeting agendas/minutes and a schedule of upcoming board meetings visit SD8.bc.ca/meetings.

The following school principal and vice-principal transfers and appointments for the 2023-2024 school year will come into effect on August 1, 2023:  

Principal Transfers

Principal Dawn Snell will transfer from Salmo Elementary to South Nelson Elementary. 

Principal Appointments

Vice-Principal Mark Bonikowsky will move from Trafalgar Middle School to become principal of Redfish Elementary School. 

Vice-Principal Jennifer Adams will move from Mount Sentinel Secondary School to become principal of Canyon-Lister Elementary School.  

School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) and Bennett Family Real Estate owners Chuck and Karen Bennett invite the community to “Start the Conversation,” a school and community event that focuses on mental health, featuring award-winning keynote speaker Victoria Maxwell.

School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) announced today that the following school principal and vice-principal transfers, appointments and retirements will come into effect August 1, 2023:

District-Wide

Principal Ken Wiens is leaving Erickson Elementary to take on the role of district principal for SD8’s online learning programs including Elev8 DESK – a Provincial Online Learning School (POLS) - and the hybrid online/in-person program, Homelinks. Principal Wiens will take over from District Principal Rob Simpson who is retiring in 2023.

School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) announced today that the following school principal and vice-principal transfers, appointments and retirements will come into effect August 1, 2023:  

District-Wide

Principal Ken Wiens is leaving Erickson Elementary to take on the role of district principal for SD8’s online learning programs including Elev8 DESK – a Provincial Online Learning School (POLS) - and the hybrid online/in-person program, Homelinks. Principal Wiens will take over from District Principal Rob Simpson who is retiring in 2023.

An overview of discussion items and major decisions of the Board of Education of School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake). For meeting agendas/minutes and a schedule of upcoming board meetings visit our meetings page.

In January of this year, SD8 Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) began their annual kindergarten speech-language screenings.

The screenings give staff an opportunity to meet with each kindergarten student to observe their speech and language skills, listening for developmentally appropriate speech sound acquisition, knowledge of basic concepts, ability to answer questions and describe with details, as well as any issues with voice quality and fluency.

How do we, as educational staff, become an ally for our students with disabilities? The answer is simple. We first need to listen to what they have to say. Listening, however, is only part of the allyship process. As important is the process of talking about one’s own disability, which is not an easy feat. To speak openly about a disability takes courage and fortitude.

Services are being improved for children and youth with support needs. In spring 2025, new family connections hubs across the province will offer accessible and inclusive services that are:

Available to all families, no matter where they live
Available from birth to age 19
Gender inclusive, culturally safe and free of stigma

Families will be able to easily and quickly access information or services based on individual needs. A referral or diagnosis will no longer be needed.