Mission Statement:

We believe trust relationships are the key to effective educational services.  These relationships can only be built through honest effective, respectful and frequent interpersonal contact.  The needs of students are best met through a collaborative consultation approach where students and parents have the right to be and should be, involved in the decision making process and education of their children.  Personal wants must become secondary to the needs of students.  Therefore, a team of equal status educators working in a consensus or majority decision model is likely to be most effective.

School Level Staff

Mrs.​ Barb Lovich, our Learning Assistance Teacher supports students who have a variety of unique learning needs. Learning assistance is provided for those students whose needs cannot be met through regular classroom instruction.  Students who are having significant difficulty in one or more areas may be eligible for individual/small group help. Emphasis may included skill development, remediation or compensation. ​

The students at Black Mountain have access to additional teaching support from a school based learning support teacher, as needed.  Students who have been identified with a Ministry number/designation have undergone psycho-educational assessments.  These assessments have indicated specific educational needs to qualify them for additional learning support and an individualized education plan. 

Students who are identified as English Language Learners (ELL) receive instructional support from Ms. Margaret Coyle, the ELL Specialist teacher. This support helps students develop their social and academic English language skills so they can succeed in school. Through the process of assessment and discussion, ELLs may benefit from receiving targeted language support in further developing their oral language skills, reading skills, and writing skills.

Support is provided in the following ways: 

• direct instruction from the ELL Specialist teacher (1 to 1 or small-group support)
• in-class support
• collaboration/consultative support between the ELL Specialist teacher and the classroom teacher 

If you have any questions or concerns about your child's placement in the ELL program, please contact Ms Coyle by email: margaret.coyle@sd23.bc.ca.

Helpful resources and games can also be found on her website here: https://t.ly/ep4up

School-Based Team

Black Mountain has a School-Based Team (SBT), which consists of the principal, vice-principal, learning support teachers, school counselor and the referring classroom teacher.  The SBT can meet every week. Other specialists (such as a speech language pathologist, educational psychologist or consultants) may also be present depending on the needs and relationship to the student being discussed.  The purpose of these team meetings is to share knowledge about children with educational, social/emotional needs, and to access area, district, and community support as needed, to assess and evaluate student progress, to assist with designing strategies to meet the special needs and to document the needs and support provided for the student.  Referrals to SBT are made through any of the team members in consultation with the classroom teacher.

If all of the school based supports available have been offered over a consistent period of time and a student continues to have learning difficulties, then a request for a formal assessment of the student’s learning potential and performance (a psycho-educational assessment) may be requested.  This request for assessment will involve a district psychologist.​

Certified Educational Assistants (CEA's) support students with physical, mental, behavioural or chronic health impairments as per the student Independent Educational Plan (I.E.P.) and Ministry of Education criteria.

District Level Staff

The following District level specialist staff provide support for Black Mountain Elementary School students, staff and parents on a part time basis:

1.   School Counsellor:  Mrs. Vanessa Martin 

• Recommended Websites to find useful Counseling Information                                     
  

• Our school counsellors adheres to School District #23 policy and procedures with regards to referrals, record keeping, and confidentiality.​
  
  

2.    Resource Teacher:​  Mrs. Julie Markus

3.    Speech and Language Therapist:  Ms. Candice Boden

4.    Occupational Therapist:  Cassandra Greenhough

5.     Indigenous Adocate:  Ms. Ainzley Wikenheiser

•  Indigeneous Student Advocates provide emotional, social, academic and cultural support to students. They work closely with families,  teachers and other personnel to provide service for students.