Speakers :

Brian Woods, Howard S. Billings High School

D’Shaun Spence, HIVE Middle School

Noel Burke, NEXTSchool Initiative

Shelley McDonagh, HIVE Middle School

Vanessa Gold, McGill University

Billings High School in Chateauguay, Quebec, has just launched a highly innovative Middle School program as part of the NEXTschool initiative. It is the HIVE, a student-centred school modelled on the most successful innovations in high schools around the world and supported by a McGill research team. This innovative framework is based on five years of exploration of schools around the world including Canada, the USA, the European Union, and New Zealand. NEXTschool follows on the successes of the Community Learning Centers which we initiated 18 years ago and now supports some 90 schools in Quebec.

The goal of this initiative is to increase student engagement with school and community, as well as to embed teacher collaboration in their daily practice. Research tells us that fully engaged students perform better and experience an increased sense of confidence, self-esteem, and wellbeing. Both their academic and personal development needs are addressed. Middle schools have also been shown to ease students’ transition from elementary to high school in a stable and supportive environment. As a result, the Billings Middle School will be at the forefront of school improvement and best practices globally as well as locally within the school’s immediate community.