​A commitment to literacy, responsive instruction and encouragement of reading is having a big impact on learning at Mayfair Community School, the Board of Education learned during its Feb. 13 meeting.

Principal Todd Berg and Vice Principal Tiffany Smith told trustees how their school implements learning sprints and the success being experienced by students and teachers. Sprints put student learning into action by collecting data, creating short-term specific learning targets, and providing responsive instruction based on student need.

They shared the school's work in creating a culture of reading so students can see themselves as readers. The effort includes boosting classroom libraries with a goal of 300 to 500 books per classroom so student always have something to read. The school also created a successful Bedtime Book Club that aimed to increase home reading to 20 minutes per day, get families involved and build students' love of reading.

Other highlights from the board meeting included:

• Teacher Jennifer Herrod and Grade 3 students from Silverwood Heights School shared their learning about democracy and how to be responsible citizens during the Celebrating Excellence portion of the meeting. Herrod was selected to participate in the Teachers Institute on Parliamentary Democracy on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and the opportunity inspired her to do even more to ensure that her students understand the value of democracy in society.
  
• The Board of Education approved the proposed school year calendar for the 2018-19 school year. The calendar represents a total of 195 days with a minimum of 950 hours of student instruction. Important dates include: the first day of school on Sept 4; a winter break from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 6, 2019; a nine-day break Feb. 16-24; and a 10-day spring break April 19-28. The calendar will finalized in the coming weeks with the addition of professional development days as well as the date for the last day of classes in June 2019.
  

Reports and information presented at board meetings can be found at www.saskatoonpublicschools.ca. The next meeting of the Board of Education is Tuesday, March 13, 2018, at 7 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.