Second school eyed to battle chronic absenteeism

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This article was published 09/08/2023 (846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Indigenous Education Caring Society is furthering its mission to grow the number of Grade 12 graduates in the North End with a second satellite school designed to draw disengaged teens and young adults back to class after the COVID-19 pandemic.

This spring, the society celebrated the official launch of Niiwin Minisiwiwag (“four eagles, the meeting place of the four directions”) — a partnership with the Winnipeg School Division that combines academics and wraparound services in an intimate setting.

Students enrolled at the inaugural off-campus at 383 Selkirk Ave. have access to flexible scheduling, one-on-one tutoring, social services support, cultural programming and an ever-stocked kitchen.

“Instead of the students being ‘school-ready,’ the schools need to be student ready,” said Tom Simms, director of development at the Community Education Development Association.

The society, which is made up of representatives from CEDA, Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad Inc. and Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, is in the process of expanding the up-and-coming program’s reach to 40 spots (from 20).

The partners have secured a vacant lot on Dufferin Avenue near Aikins Street, located steps from WSD’s R.B. Russell Vocational School, to build another standalone classroom and double overall enrolment.

An average of 400 inner-city students in Grades 7 and up were deemed “inactive” — meaning they were registered with WSD, but not actively participating at their home school — every academic year between 2009 and 2019.

The onset of the pandemic and stop-and-go remote learning that followed suit, in turn heightening social anxieties and disrupting routines, has renewed concerns about chronic absenteeism.

Manitoba recently launched a strategy to encourage immediate intervention when a student is not showing up regularly and “School. Keep Going.,” a public awareness campaign touting the benefits of regular participation.

Niiwin Minisiwiwag’s model seeks to make students feel a sense of belonging in a tight-knit community where healing and learning happen simultaneously with cultural activities and as a result, encourage participants to keep showing up, Simms said.

“Instead of the students being ‘school-ready,’ the schools need to be student ready.”–Tom Simms

“There’s a whole bunch of things that get in the way of learning and we need to look at all those things,” he said, noting the program’s holistic nature is a stark contrast to a truancy officer knocking on a family’s door.

Zoning challenges have delayed a groundbreaking on the latest project, but the partners are aiming to open the additional location next summer for the 2024-25 school year.

Mike Robertson, a partner at Cibinel Architecture, said everyone involved wants the designs to be fluid and make students feel at home.

“We don’t want it to feel institutional,” the architect said. “We’d be failing from the start if we were plunking down a mini (traditional) high school.”

The operational site on Selkirk Avenue resembles a modern house from the outside and has an open-concept learning space.

A large kitchen is the centrepiece because it facilitates feasts, life skills lessons and ensures students are fed so they can focus on their studies, said Robertson, who has worked for Ma Mawi for roughly 20 years and completed numerous projects in the North End.

“We don’t want it to feel institutional. We’d be failing from the start if we were plunking down a mini (traditional) high school.”–Mike Robertson

Given the limited availability of vacant buildings in good condition in the neighbourhood, Simms said it made the most sense to start from scratch and cited Niiwin Minisiwiwag as a success story of stakeholders working together to better a community.

Winnipeg city council identified the off-campus properties as ones that should be sold to the community-serving organizations for $1 each.

The partners have obtained funding for the projects via the Winnipeg Foundation, Thomas Sill Foundation, the province’s building sustainable communities fund, and an anonymous donor.

WSD has committed to a long-term lease of the standalone classrooms.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca