Welcome to St. Elias Community School
We are less than two hours’ drive (156km) from Whitehorse, the capital city of the Yukon, and our students participate in many sports tournaments, events, cultural activities and learning opportunities in the city. As well, our K4 to Grade 12 classes follow British Columbia curriculum with Yukon First Nations and Champagne and Aishihik First Nations content as the foundation. Enjoy learning about our school. Feel free to contact us with comments or questions.
In the beautiful mountain valleys of Dakwäkäda (Haines Junction), St. Elias Community School respectfully acknowledges that we live, work and learn on the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.
School Growth Plan
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Literacy
We are working to pilot a literacy program for high school that will feature a writing program following Science of Reading/research-driven literacy. A professional learning community will be established specifically for literacy. We will be intentional about celebrating literacy accomplishments with our community and be intentional pf literacy developing in all content areas. We continue our commitment to meaningful formative assessments.
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Numeracy
We are working on linking trades, land-based learning, and financial literacy to the math curriculum. We will continue our commitment's to formative assessments and transparent communication with families about that data.
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Whole child
Our initiatives under Whole Child include focusing on a community strategy to increase student attendance, establishing monthly school assemblies to celebrate Learners and bring community together and establishing professional learning communities as part of our commitment to staff learning.
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Land & language
Our work in Land and Language includes supporting land-based learning through field trips and outdoor learning spaces as well as hands-on and trades-based programming for High School learners.
We will be intentional about linking Southern Tutchone in all areas of learning, and conduct a comprehensive needs assessment together with CAFN to clarify challenges, strengths and opportunities including the creation of safety for Elders and Knowledge Holders to be engaged in our school community.
School Calendar
St. Elias Community School
Our calendar is structured to reflect cultural ways of knowing and doing.
The school year runs from late August to early June and we have multiple extended breaks throughout the year to to spend time with their families while engaged in cultural activities.
A word from our Principal
We wrap around our learners, together.
The St. Elias Community School boasts being the territory’s leader in localized governance for their school. Together with the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the First Nation School Board established its first Community Committee in Dakwä̀kä̀da. This Community Committee now joins the FNSB and the school’s administration to make up the school Leadership Team. This model of school governance is fostering reconciliation in education.
We hold up all of our learners and their families, and extend a big gunalchéesh, shä̀w níthän for walking this path with us.
SECS Leadership Team
St. Elias Community School
What makes FNSB schools different
Accountability
We take the words of past reports and the wisdom of our communities seriously. The Auditor General Reports of 2009 and 2019, the Joint Education Action Plan (JEAP), and the various reports from the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate (YCAO) have given us a clear map with checkpoints to ensure the needs of our Learners are met and our communities are heard and empowered. An overarching theme of these reports is accountability. You cannot have accountability without objective data and transparency.
Through our Yukon First Nation values, we have built all aspects of FNSB around this, especially how our schools operate and support our Learners' education. Everything from our school growth plans, to teacher evaluations, academic assessments, and the development of new data measures for cultural connection and belonging, FNSB is ensuring we are accountable to our Learners, families, First Nations, communities, and the public.
Together with local First Nations
We are changing what education looks like at St. Elias Community School because local First Nation citizens are involved and leading everything from staffing and budgets to school rules and programming. Our school is a part of the community, not separate from it. Our Leadership Team includes education leaders from Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, and our localized governance model of Community Committees, made up of citizens and families, enables our community to genuinely share the delivery of public education.
High Expectations, High Support
St. Elias Community School follows the BC Curriculum, and we work with Champagne and Aishihik First Nations to integrate local knowledge, histories, languages, and cultures with high academic rigour. We know true learning engages minds by reflecting lived experiences and fostering a sense of belonging. Our community should maintain high expectations of our Learners, and the Educators and School Teams entrusted to teach them. In reciprocity, all Learners, Educators, and families are supported through a localized First Nations approach, which is strengths-based and wraps around the whole person, not only one aspect.
Inclusive of all
All Learners, Educators, and families are welcome at St. Elias Community School. Every decision we make holds our Learners and families at the centre. We provide education grounded in reconciliation. A Yukon First Nations model puts the whole Learner first through a strengths-based and community-centred approach. We all hold the privilege and the responsibility to learn about and from the people, teachings, and languages of this land.
