Letter from Katherine MacIver, Director of Education (pdf)
June 19, 2025
Dear Families:
As the 2024-2025 school year draws to a close, I extend my sincere gratitude to all our students, families, staff, and community partners for another year of learning, growth and achievement throughout Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board (HPEDSB). Your unwavering support and collaboration are the cornerstones of our success.
This past school year has been one of significant reflection and engagement as we charted a new course for the future of education in our district. I am thrilled to share that our new 2025-2030 Strategic Plan is focused on empowering students with skills for the future. This plan, developed through extensive consultation with students, staff, families and community members, will guide our collective efforts and priorities for the next five years.
Our new strategic plan is grounded in four key pillars, each designed to strengthen past successes and further foster environments where every student can thrive.
- Strengthening Foundational and Real-World Skills: We are committed to ensuring students have the skills to succeed built upon the foundation of strong literacy and numeracy skills. Key skills like financial and digital literacy and problem solving will ensure that students are ready for what lies ahead in their education, work and daily life.
- Advancing Indigenous Education and Reconciliation: We will continue to embrace and embed Indigenous knowledge, perspectives and voices across our education system. We will champion reconciliation and deepen our work across curriculum, policies and practices, ensuring that our schools are taking action for the betterment of students and communities.
- Fostering Critical Thinking, Adaptability and Innovation: We recognize that the future is evolving and students need to be future-ready. This includes leveraging technology to enhance learning and providing diverse programming that equips students with the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving world.
- Promoting Citizenship, Well-Being and Safe Environments: we will prioritize positive citizenship in all of our spaces across HPEDSB to enable everyone to be respected and supported, as to be their true selves. Through this, we will support resilience, wellbeing and equity, ensuring that our schools are welcoming spaces for all.
We have already seen remarkable successes this past year that align with our new strategic direction. For example, we celebrated significant improvements in our early literacy and numeracy programs, with dedicated educators implementing innovative strategies to build foundational skills. Our students have excelled in a wide range of extracurricular activities, from winning provincial championships in sports to achieving accolades in the arts and sciences. Furthermore, we have expanded access to our Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) programs, offering students more opportunities to gain real-world experience and explore potential career paths.
These accomplishments are a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our incredible staff, the perseverance of our students and the invaluable partnership we share with you, our families. As we look ahead to the 2025-2026 school year, we are filled with optimism and excitement. The implementation of our new strategic plan will continue the meaningful work already underway and provide energy to our schools. We will continue to build on our successes and embrace new opportunities for growth and innovation.
In preparation for the new year, the 2025-2026 school year calendar is now added to our website: hpeschools.ca. Additionally, school bus information for the 2025-2026 school year will be available in July from Tri-Board Student Transportation Services. New students and students with a change of address or school need to apply online by August 6th to have busing set up for the first day of school. Please visit triboard.ca to apply for transportation and access your child’s bus details for September.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and all of us at HPEDSB, I wish you a safe, restful, and enjoyable summer break. We look forward to welcoming our students back to school on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, for another inspiring year of learning together.
Sincerely,
Katherine MacIver
Director of Education