2025-26 School Goal – Numeracy Focus

École Élémentaire Devon Gardens Elementary School is a vibrant and diverse school of approximately 360 students, organized into 16 divisions. Our school offers two choice programs: Montessori (K-3)and French Immersion (K-7). Just under half of our students (48%) are in the French Immersion program. Many of our students speak languages other than English and/or French, with approximately 1/3 of our students identifying as English Language Learners.

Previously, our school goal has focused on Writing. We had made good progress with this goal, so for the 2024/25 school year we embarked on using the Math Minds program, school wide, as we transitioned to focusing on Numeracy as our goal area. Our data shows that students are needing some targeted intervention in this area, highlighting the need for a more cohesive approach to teaching and evaluating numeracy skills.

The Math Minds program appealed to staff as it offers a cohesive approach, focusing on general improvement in mathematics performance, with emphasis on computational fluency, conceptual understanding and problem solving. This program is also available in both French and English; something that was important to us in implementing a school-wide approach.  

Research on the use of the Math Minds program, as shared by our District Math Coordinator, indicates that use of the Math Minds program creates excitement and curiosity, helps students organize their thinking and articulate what they learned, fosters a feeling of internalized competence, confidence and a willingness to take risks.

Using the Math Minds program, we are focusing on explicit and clear math instruction  Key areas of student learning to focus on will be helping students:
– develop mental math strategies and abilities to make sense of quantities and patterns;
– develop, demonstrate, and apply mathematical understanding through play, inquiry, and problem solving;
– use mathematical vocabulary and language to contribute to mathematical discussions;
– represent mathematical ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms;
– connect mathematical concepts to each other and to other areas and personal interests;
– assist students to develop the self-advocacy skills required to seek feedback, get help or request other ways to show their learning;
– celebrate their progress and achievements to boost their confidence and motivation around learning Math

June 2026 update – 

We have just finished our second year of being involved in the Math Minds program and have made good progress this year

• all classes are engaged in using the Math Minds program
• fall and spring classroom level “check in” assessments for grades 2-7
• math specific questions added to the student learning survey to assess students’ growth mindset and self-perceptions when it comes to learning math (completed with all students grades 4-7)
• a comprehensive inventory of our school’s Math resources and materials and targeted spending to purchase those items we were lacking
• teacher collaboration time focused on Math Minds
• lunch and learn, and pro-d day sessions, led by District Math coordinator

• events to help promote a positive Math culture at our school:
  • a school-wide Math Festival

• • a focus on careers that use Math during “career week” in November, culminating in a spirit day where students dressed as a career that uses math (hint – all of them!)

Looking ahead to 2026-27