The Garden Valley School Division marked the start of the 2025–26 school year with the long-standing tradition of bringing together its roughly 700 staff members under one roof at Garden Valley Collegiate.
The school buses traditionally used to carry students brought in staff for the division-wide assembly, which filled the GVC gym with teachers, support workers, and administrators, all ready to set the tone for the months ahead.
The support network
Superintendent Dan Ward said the fact that they can have a gathering shows the unique position GVSD is in, being large enough to employ hundreds of staff yet close enough geographically to bring them all together at once.
Ward added that the meeting helps staff recognize the bigger picture, reminding everyone that they are part of a division-wide support network.
"It is important that our staff recognizes that. We're larger than one school or one office, or one site. Not that they don't play a critical role in the success of our students, but to see the support network behind each and every classroom. I think is really important, especially for our new staff, when they look around and they meet folks from other schools, and they see our clinical team and they see our support staff and our bus drivers, I mean, that goes a long way."
Energy and support
Board Chair Leah Klassen said the atmosphere in the gym felt was one filled with energy, with the meeting also offering staff a chance to start the year on a positive note.
"It's an exciting time. Dan mentioned in his speech that first day back at school, there's always that excitement, and it's fantastic for our folks to be able to connect and reconnect and just start off in a really exciting and energetic way."
She also stressed the role of the Board in supporting staff, pointing out that their work directly impacts educators who then impact students.
"It's critical to understand that actually, we're directly impacting staff who impact students. So our role is to be able to support staff and to make sure that they have the things that they need. So that they can go to school, and they can be in the classroom, and they can impact our students and our division."
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As staff now settle into classrooms and routines, Ward offered a message to the wider community, saying, "We just want to wish everyone a great school year in 25-26, remind our folks and our communities that there's going to be buses on the road... our streets will be a little busier and hope everyone gets off to a safe and productive and fun start to the school year."
