Foundations for the Future Charter Academy
BOARD NEWS
2016-2017
Issue 1: November 2016
In this issue
Message from the Board Chair
Director Profile – Cristian Rios
FFCA Preferred Future and Strategic Plan
TAAPCS/Alberta Education Curriculum Survey
Government Relations
Plainly Policy/ HR Committee Update
Parental Partnership Forums
FFCA Annual General Meeting /Talking Points
Upcoming Events
A Message from the Board Chair
Dear Parents, Teachers, Administrators, Students, and our FFCA
community at large,
I cannot believe we are already into our third month of the school year.
When I’m in the campuses and I get to speak with other parents, I’m
often asked what it is that’s keeping the Board busy these days. Well
that’s a complex question because the Board has been active on
numerous fronts. We continue to focus on strategic initiatives and stay
in constant contact with administration on its operational execution. We
continue to engage in discourse with our political leaders and I’m
encouraged by the warm response we continue to receive from all political parties. We are reviewing
policies and making determinations on what’s best for FFCA in the changing education landscape. We try
our very best to attend the seven monthly School Council meetings and the ASC meetings. As I tell all
those who ask me, if you’re ever interested in seeing what it is we do at the Board level, please don’t
hesitate to contact me directly. Otherwise, I encourage you all to come join us at our monthly public Board
meetings. It is an opportunity for our stakeholders to observe our meeting, and there is a standing item on
the agenda where our guests in the gallery have the chance to directly engage the whole Board.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend my fellow directors and tell you just how proud I am to
work with such a strong, devoted, caring and capable team. Recently, The Association of Alberta Public
Charter Schools (TAAPCS) gathered for a meeting. It was at this meeting that many of our directors
represented FFCA very well and showed leadership by presenting governance level materials and
engaging and leading discussions with the directors of other public charter schools.
These days the Board is spending a lot of time on parental partnerships and ensuring we have
engagement from our community. To be clear, one of the greatest strengths of FFCA is our engaged
stakeholder model. We take this very seriously and, as such, we look forward to hearing from you. I hope
to see many of you at one of our upcoming forums (see page 7 for more information).
Amish Patel
FFCA Board Chair
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GETTING TO KNOW YOU……..
IN THIS ISSUE, WE FEATURE DIRECTOR CRISTIAN RIOS
Tell us about yourself.
I am a professor of mathematics at the University of Calgary. My work
involves not only teaching, but also much research and scholarship. I have
two children who have been in FFCA since kindergarten, they are both
currently at the South Middle School. My wife is a teacher at the high
school campus.
Why FFCA?
We have been very lucky - FFCA first chose us. After I was offered my current work in Calgary over ten years
ago while we were living in the US, my wife applied for a teaching job at FFCA. We soon learned to admire what
this school has to offer in quality education, with character and leadership development. Fortunately, our
children have also had the opportunity to benefit from this special school since Kindergarten.
What do you do for fun?
I truly enjoy nature and travel with my family, which we do as often as we can. In the summers we go camping
when we are not traveling longer distances. I love riding my bicycle, and I take my bike out any opportunity I
have. I love reading, both in English and in my native language, Spanish. I also have a passion for doing
mathematics, which coincidentally is my day job.
What is the biggest surprise you found after joining the Board?
How much there is to learn about our governance system, and how the Board does its work. This steep learning
curve poses a real challenge for maintaining sustainable leadership, while offering opportunities for new
members to join the Board.
What do you see this Board accomplishing over the next three years?
I would like to see greater parental involvement in the grand challenges present and upcoming in our kids’
education. The Board is currently working on our parental partnership policy, going through the process of
consulting stakeholders. By the end of our current mandate, I would like to see greater feedback from parents to
staff and the Board, as well as greater parent participation in each individual campus, in public forums, in polls
and consultations, and in Board meetings. I would also like to see many more parents running for election in
school councils and as Board members.
I believe that a highly engaged parent population helped build FFCA to be great from the start, and it is essential
to sustain and carry that greatness forward.
What do you see as the biggest hurdle for this Board?
The enemy of great is good. Our school continues to statistically outperform most public and private schools
year after year. The current education minister looked clearly mystified by our outstanding results during his visit
last June. However, statistics only give a broad picture of averages, ironing out individual experiences. Our
Board needs to keep our eyes forward towards growth, but also keep our focus on what matters most – each
classroom, with each child’s experience and learning.
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FFCA PREFERRED FUTURE AND STRATEGIC PLAN, by Amish Patel
Since 1997, Foundations for the Future Charter Academy (FFCA) has grown from a single campus with 224
students to our current composition of seven campuses and over 3400 students. We have worked hard and
experienced great successes in meeting our mission of providing “a safe and caring environment where
academic excellence, character development, parental involvement and staff leadership are valued and
fostered.”
Not wanting to rest on our laurels, in 2013, the FFCA Board of Directors decided to establish a Statement of
Preferred Future to guide our future development. We’ve undertaken a highly consultative process which
involved a lot of dialogue and collaboration with stakeholders - including staff, parents and students - to identify
the following:
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core features of our school that should be maintained in a changing environment;
valued outcomes/processes of our school’s work;
changes worthy of addressing.
I’m pleased to announce that at our September regular Board meeting, we approved the following as our
Statement of Preferred Future:
“Through key charter elements - particularly character and leadership development, parent partnership, the
direct instruction framework, and the one-school, multiple campuses guiding principle - FFCA will provide a
culture of learning for all that focuses upon each student’s success.
In keeping with FFCA’s maturation, the Board of Directors for FFCA has identified, through a discerned
prolonged process, four related directions in which to evolve to better meet the needs of its students and
community:
1. Broaden programs offered
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i.e. review of existing programs and establishment of new programs consistent with stakeholder
aspirations
2. Diversify instructional programming
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i.e. provision of educational programming for all students so they can learn and meet the province’s
standards of education in a variety of ways
3. Establish a support system for research and innovation
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i.e. establishment of systemic supports for students, staff and parent efforts to create innovative learning
environments and improve student learning outcomes
4. Partner in new ways
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i.e. development of new educational opportunities internally through sustained engagement with internal
stakeholders, and externally with other school boards, charter schools, government, post-secondary
institutions, companies and municipal organizations to meet the joint needs of the partners.”
A link to the complete approved Preferred Future document can be found at:
http://www.ffca-calgary.com/download/85307
In upcoming months, as part of our fiduciary duties, we will be working with our senior administrative team to
develop a strategic plan to drive our evolution in these areas. We are committed to a sustained effort in these
directions to achieve outcomes that build on our past successes and strengthen our next application for charter
renewal in 2027.
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THE ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS (TAAPCS),
by Cindy McGlashan-Beaucage
TAAPCS met in October for the first of three meetings we will have this year. We had two very active days of
meetings with a very engaging agenda, and ending with our Annual General Meeting (AGM).
In these meetings, we continued our discussions around strategic planning, governance roles and
responsibilities, and bylaws; ultimately these conversations generated incredible ideas and possibilities. In
preparation for these meetings, the FFCA Board discussed possible options to bring to the table, which had
tremendously positive outcomes. We will continue to work on the TAAPCS strategic plan and bylaws this year,
as well as carry on with further refinements of roles and responsibilities. We will be working with consultant
Becky Kallal on our bylaws, while also pursuing Charter Board Director professional development.
At our AGM, we elected the TAAPCS President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, as well as the Chair
for the Charter Board Director Committee. We are excited to welcome Co-Presidents Diane McBeth and Yvonne
DePeel, Co-Vice-Presidents Lynne Paradis and Dale Erickson, Treasurer Heather Christison and Secretary
Meredith Poole. We also welcome Boris Vidal and Paul Knapp as our Co-Chairs of the Charter Board Director
Committee. We look forward to working with this amazing group this year!
ALBERTA EDUCATION CURRICULUM SURVEY, by Cristian Rios
Alberta Education is reviewing and updating the curriculum, which outlines what students are expected to learn
from kindergarten through Grade 12, and is asking for your input. We encourage FFCA parents to participate in
this and upcoming opportunities to provide feedback to our government.
You can take the survey at: http://www.alberta.ca/curriculum-survey
The survey is divided into 2 parts that ask Albertans to:
1. provide feedback general direction for the development of all new curriculum
2. provide feedback on aspects of our existing curriculum https://education.alberta.ca/programs-of-study/
The survey will close November 18, 2016. There will be many more opportunities to be involved over the
course of the six-year process to help inform this important work.
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GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, by Cindy McGlashan-Beaucage
Although school was over for the year, the Board had a very busy summer meeting with government officials at
special events, Stampede breakfasts, and constituency meetings.
We started the summer with a flurry of pancake breakfasts celebrating the Calgary Stampede with Alberta
MLA’s: Hon. Brandy Payne, Mr. Graham Sucha, Mr. Brian Malkinson, Ms. Anam Kazim and Hon. Irfan Sabir.
Many Board members then joined the hundreds of people at the Premier’s Breakfast to share in the festivities,
eating and chatting with many of our friends in the legislature, notably Mr. Craig Coolahan, Ms. Robyn Luff, and
the Hon. Stephanie McLean. We also had a chance to meet with some MLA’s from the North who came to
celebrate with us: our Minister of Education the Hon. David Eggen, Mr. Bob Turner, Mr. Shaye Anderson, and
Ms. Annie McKitrick. Good times and great eats were had by all and it was a wonderful opportunity to make
new acquaintances and build relationships! We even had a chance to catch up with past FFCA Board Director,
City of Calgary Councillor, Sean Chu.
At the end of the summer, we had a fantastic meeting with MLA Anam Kazim, Calgary-Glenmore. Although Ms.
Kazim has a charter school in her riding and has a great understanding of charter schools, we wanted to
introduce ourselves and share a little about FFCA. We were lucky to have Ms. Kazim join us at our SWE
Welcome Back BBQ in September where she met with many of our families, shared some food, and even
danced with some of our students!! It was great to have her come and meet our FFCA community!
We are very fortunate to have Hon. Brandy Payne as the MLA for three of our south campuses and have had
her come to celebrate our SMS Welcome Back BBQ with us, as well as speak to our students at our
Remembrance Day ceremony.
We thank the NDP government for their continued support of Charter Schools and their willingness to be
involved in our school community. We look forward to future opportunities.
Top Row L-R: MLA Robin Luff, Hon. Stephanie McLean, FFCA Board Chair Amish Patel, Vice-Chair Cindy McGlashan-Beaucage,
Superintendent Roger Nippard, Hon. Brandy Payne; Middle Row L-R: Cindy Mc-B., Hon. Brandy Payne, MLA Graham Sucha, Cindy Mc-B.,
Amish P., MLA Brian Wilkinson, Cindy Mc-B., MLA Annie McKitrick, FFCA Director Shelley Schroh; Bottom Row L-R: MLA Bob Turner,
Amish P., Former FFCA Director & Calgary City Councillor Sean Chu, Shelley S., Cindy Mc-B.
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PLAINLY POLICY, by Andrew Chu
Since the last policy update in the March newsletter, the Board has shared Policy 19 – Welcoming, Caring,
Respectful and Safe Learning and Working Environments with Education Minister David Eggen as requested.
The Board has passed one policy since then on May 18, 2016:
Policy 8 – Charter Board Committees (a new policy, to clarify how committees of the Board are to operate.
Previous to this policy, details of committee operations were found in the Director Handbook)
In June, the provincial government postponed the proclamation of the Education Act for at least another year, so
all policies still need to be aligned with the School Act.
There is currently one policy under consideration, which underwent First Reading on October 19, 2016:
Policy 13 - Appeals and Hearings Regarding Student Matters (to have an appeal procedure in place so that the
Board is prepared to hear appeals in accordance with Section 123(5) of the School Act).
All policies under review or consideration are now posted on the FFCA Website at: http://www.ffcacalgary.com/board/documents-under-review as required by Policy 10 – Policy Making, which also states that:
1. Any Director, staff member, Society member, student or School Council may make
suggestions regarding the possible development of a policy or the need for policy revisions on
any matter by presenting a proposal for a policy or revisions, in writing, to the Superintendent.
The proposal shall contain a brief statement of purpose or rationale.
7. If accepted in principle by the Board at first reading, the proposed policy or policy amendment will be
referred to:
7.1 campus administrators for feedback from campus staff
7.2 School Councils for feedback from parents;
7.3 other groups and individuals as deemed necessary, and
7.4 posted to the FFCA website
8. Comments and/or suggestions must be received by the Superintendent within twenty-eight (28) days
of first reading.
8.1 Changes to any proposed policy or policy amendment arising from comments and/or
suggestions will be recommended by the Superintendent. These comments and alterations will be
shared with the Board at the time of second reading.
HR COMMITTEE UPDATE, by Wayne Weinheimer
This October was a busy month for FFCA Board Director professional development. The Board attended a twoday legal workshop, “School Board Governance, Leadership and the Law”, facilitated by the law firm McLennan
Ross LLP. The workshop was very informative and there were many other school boards in attendance such as
Suzuki Charter School and the Calgary Board of Education.
Shortly following the legal workshop, the Board attended a governance training session led by Becky Kallal. This
training session was the first in a series of three sessions in collaboration with other Calgary charter
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schools. In January, the second session will focus
on effective meetings, and the third session, in March,
on relationships. Through The Association of Alberta
Public Charter Schools (TAAPCS), the FFCA Board
wishes to partner with other Charter School Boards to
ensure all Charter Board Directors receive similar training.
Other future professional development sessions include
a government relations training session in mid-November,
and an annual review of Alberta’s Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) legislation. All Alberta
public bodies, including school boards, are required to
follow FOIP legislation.
Our first governance session with facilitator Becky Kallal (in red)
In addition to coordinating professional development, the HR committee is currently revising the
Superintendent and Board performance evaluation process to ensure our policies align with our recently
adopted G-TEC policy model. Additional 2016-2017 goals for the HR Committee include reviewing succession
planning and director recruitment, reviewing our election process, and revising the Directors’ Handbook as
necessary.
PARENTAL PARTNERSHIP FORUMS, by Cristian Rios
The FFCA Board is developing a Parental Partnership Policy to provide guidance on how to strengthen FFCA's
Charter commitments. In addition, as part of the Board’s is commitment to engagement and collaboration with
all stakeholders we are gathering input to determine how to define "Parental Partnership" in the context of our
Preferred Future Framework Strategic Planning Initiative.
Please join us at our upcoming Parental Partnership Forums at:
6:30-8:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 22nd 2016 at the South Middle School campus
6:30-8:00 p.m. Monday, November 28th 2016 at the North Middle School campus
In these forums parents will have the opportunity to directly provide input about the nature of Parental
Partnership in FFCA, and help shape the future policy. We need your participation!
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED
If you have not done so yet, please remember to fill in the FFCA Parental Partnership Questionnaire before
Monday November 14th at:
English https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FFCA_Parent_Partnership_Questionnaire_for_Parents-English
Cantonese https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FFCA_PP_Survey_Cantonese
Punjabi https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FFCA_PP_Survey_Punjabi
Urdu https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FFCA_PP_Survey_Urdu
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FFCA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, by Andrew Chu
Did you know that each parent (or legal guardian) of a student attending FFCA is a Member of "The FFCA
Charter School Society" (a society incorporated under the Societies Act of Alberta)? Did you also know that all
currently-employed staff members who are not parents of FFCA students, and anyone else who the board
approves, are Associate Members of the Society?
An annual general meeting (commonly known as an AGM) is an annual meeting of the general membership of
an organization. FFCA has over 4500 society members!
What distinguishes the operation of a Charter Public School from other school jurisdictions is that it is operated
by either a society or a specific type of non-profit company as detailed in the School Act. The FFCA Charter
School Society is required by Section 25 of the Societies Act to hold an AGM in Alberta where its audited
financial statements are presented to the membership. Article VI of the Bylaws of the FFCA Charter School
Society require that this meeting be held within 15 months of the previous AGM, which occurred on December
2nd, 2015. The Agenda of this meeting is to be set by the Board and written notice of the meeting must be given
14 days prior to the meeting. Past agenda items have included presentations of the previous "Year at a
Glance", FFCA's AERR (Annual Education Results Report), and 3YEP (3-Year Education Plan).
This year's AGM details have not been set yet, but it should be set soon as it must occur before March 2 nd,
2017, so watch for the notice!
The Board looks forward to this opportunity to provide financial accountability to the Society's membership and
to provide other information of relevance. We hope to see you there!
“TALKING POINTS”
The Board proposes that FFCA parents with an interest to advocate for our school with provincial government
representatives concentrate on the following main points:
Who we are:
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We are a public school.
We are tuition free.
We are accessible to all students, there is no selection process.
We are community-driven: Parents-Students-Teachers partnership.
Parental engagement is valued, encouraged, and fostered.
We excel in academics and character education.
Our campuses are centres for research-based innovation.
There is great demand to attend our program (10,000+ waiting list).
We are operated by a non-profit Society.
We have no religious affiliation.
We employ Alberta certificated teachers.
We adhere to Alberta-approved curriculum.
What we require:
 Proper, safe, and permanent infrastructure.
 Equitable public funding. Even though we receive the same basic funding per student as any other
public school, we are only funded for Inclusive Education at the 10% level.
 An increase in our enrolment cap to allow students to have a seamless K-12 FFCA education, knowing
that continuity and stability are important factors in our children’s health and academic success.
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Upcoming Events
Parental Partnership Forums
South Middle School: Tuesday November 22, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
North Middle School: Monday November 28, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
Schedule of Remaining 2016-17 Public Board Meetings*
(*Please check our website for any changes)
November 23, 2016
December 7, 2016 (AGM – 7:30 p.m.)
December 14, 2016
January 25, 2017
February 22, 2017
March 15, 2017
April 19, 2017
May 17, 2017
June 7, 2017
Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held at FFCA’s Central Office location
(address below) beginning at 6:00 p.m.
#240, 688 Heritage Dr. SE
Calgary, AB T2H 1M6
Phone: 403-520-3206
Fax: 403-520-3209
Please feel free to share your thoughts and feelings with us at
[email protected] or at any of our Public Board Meetings.
Visit our website at www.ffca-calgary.com
Follow us on Twitter
@ffca_Board
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