School District No.8 (Kootenay Lake) is pleased to announce Laury Carrière as the new Director of Instruction – Indigenous Education and Learning Services effective August 1, 2024. This role replaces the previous district principal of Aboriginal Education position and is part of the SD8 senior leadership team, underscoring the district’s commitment to reconciliation and Indigenization of the curriculum.

I recognize that I belong to a larger group of Deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
I can share my experience with other Deaf and hard of hearing peers. (Deaf and Hard of Hearing expanded core curriculum Personal and Cultural Identity goal)

Elementary and secondary students from School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) (SD8) joined same age peers from school districts 20, 51 and 10 at Stanley Humphries Secondary School in Castlegar for a day of activities and connection on February 1 and 2.

Fall 2023 SD8 Goals: Learning and Relationships

This fall, the Inclusive Support Team organized some special events to support our district’s students with Down syndrome, their families and school-based teams.
Events started off with a beautiful sunny day at the park in September. This fun filled picnic included lots of games, snacks, Trishaw rides and even a dance party. While students played, parents were able to connect with each other and school-based team shared ideas.  

A huge thank you to Oso Negro, The Kootenay Co-op and Bob from Cycling Without Age for their time and generous donations!

SD8 has begun dispatching learning crates to young students and their families

The first day of kindergarten is an exciting day for any young student beginning an educational journey that will continue into their teens. Now BC families can accompany their children to kindergarten no matter where they live, work or travel, and students can learn at a pace and rhythm that completely suits their needs. 

– Robust public participation and balanced budget

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) 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.

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.