Ross Ford staff and families join forces for student success

The power of collaboration between staff, and with families, is clearly evident at Ross Ford Elementary School in Didsbury this year. The school has focused on two key goals over the past two years, and staff are excited about results they are experiencing. 

“It feels so amazing,” says Peggy Fulton who works as an Educational Assistant (EA) at Ross Ford. “We are working together as a team, and everyone feels good about coming in our doors.” 

Stacey Lodermeier, also an EA at Ross Ford, agrees. She says, “It feels great - amazing actually. I have reconnected with my ‘why’.  I come to work because I make a difference for students.” 

Supporting the social and emotional needs of students

The school has focused on supporting students with their social and emotional needs, and specifically working to ensure the school has a calm environment where students are self-regulated and ready to learn. The second focus is literacy, specifically working with current research and a connection with families to give students tailored support and increase their success in literacy. 

At the beginning of the journey, two years ago, Ross Ford staff discussed their goals, looked at research, and also spoke with other successful schools to determine strategies they could use. Principal George Thomson also visited Ecole Steffie Woima School in Sylvan Lake to observe the school’s approach to supporting students who have complex needs.

Staff have tapped into the power of the Collaborative Response Model, which Chinook’s Edge uses, where staff work together using collaborative structures, data and evidence to apply a continuum of supports to meet the individual needs of students. 

As a result of that work together, staff created three spaces for students. Students who visit the Jack-rabbit room have access to exercise equipment. “The whole intent is for students to expend some energy when they need to so they can go back to the classroom ready to learn,” says Lodermeier. 

Special spaces designed to support student needs

The Porcupine Room supports students’ sensory needs with calming lights, cozy blankets, floor mats, soft pillows, a fibre optic spray, lighted bubble tube and more. Students who visit the Porcupine or Jack-rabbit room have the direct support of staff members.

The Mouse Room is a space that students know they can access if they start feeling overwhelmed in class. Their temporary stay of up to 10 minutes is self directed. Students can read, colour, do puzzles, access a wobbly board, or pillows and mats. The intent of the room is to give students a quiet reprieve where they can become calm and ready to learn.

Molly*, a student, says she enjoys the Mouse Room. “It makes me feel relaxed and that I can get all my nerves out,” she says. 

Another student, Shanna*, says “It’s calm here. Sometimes I come when I have a headache. I feel more calm.” 

Deigo* says he enjoys being on the wobbly board - called the Spooner. “I can go on the Spooner and waste my energy on it, so then I can have just a little bit of energy to go back to work.” 

Cheryl Griffin, who joined Ross Ford School as Vice-Principal mid-way through this year, says, “It’s been good to arrive at the school and see all of the hard work underway. The staff are a great team and their work together is impressive.”

Calm… and ready to focus on literacy

“Our school is generally a very calm place these days,” says George Thomson. “Our whole team has been essential to this outcome. Together we have done a good job of creating an approach that supports individual student needs. As a result, we have also been able to refresh our focus on literacy.”

Thomson says, “There is an excellent team here at Ross Ford that has always prioritized literacy and student needs. What we did differently, together, was use our professional learning time to really dig into current research about literacy and consider, as a team, what we could do together to tailor our approach to meet the needs of our students, based on the research.”

Buddy reading - an enjoyable and successful literacy strategy

One successful strategy has been creating opportunities to read regularly. Older students from one class buddy read with younger students regularly. Also, older students from neighboring Westglen School, visit Ross Ford every few weeks to buddy read too. Literacy is a part of assemblies as well. 

“Buddy reading supports literacy, but also it gives students a connection that matters to school culture,” says Carlee Hutcheon, Ross Ford teacher. “Their buddy becomes a friend at recess. Students also learn about compromise and increase social skills.” 

Newly formed literacy committee focuses on family engagement

To support growth in literacy, Thomson also looked for teachers who would like to be on a literacy committee. Ross Ford teacher, Jamie Petersen, is a member of that committee. 

“As we talked about our goals, we knew we wanted to connect with families,” says Petersen, “and we wanted to do that in a fun way, to build awareness, excitement and engagement around literacy. Our goal was to build enthusiasm for reading inside and outside of our building.” 

Committee members decided they wanted to host events that would bring families into the building. Together they created a Christmas-time family night that had about 100 families in its first year. In the second year of the event, in December 2024, about 120 families attended. 

Also, in the spring of 2024 the school hosted a literacy night where families circulated to different stations to find answers to a variety of questions within the pages of books. In March 2025, the committee organized “March Madness”, a reading competition complete with prizes and bingo cards and squares filled with different ways to read. “Read with a stuffy” or “read a non-fiction book” or “read someone else’s favorite book” are all examples of challenges within the bingo squares.

“Literacy is so important, especially for the younger grades,” says Heather Gagne, a parent of two Ross Ford students, and a volunteer who visits the school several times a week to read with students. “The focus on literacy is great,” she says. “It's working exponentially better. Parents are definitely more aware of it.”  Gagne enjoys volunteering. “To be able to share those ‘ah ha’ moments with the students when they're able to read the word(s) they've been struggling with makes my heart so full!” she says.

"It’s been thrilling to experience,” says Petersen. “Families are paying attention and are getting involved. Seeing our team evolve has been amazing. Our collaboration has created a school wide conversation about literacy, and it’s making a difference.” Diane Arbuckle, a teacher at Ross Ford, says, “I’ve appreciated the journey we’ve been on together. It has helped us become more focused and more clear about our goals.”|

“I appreciate the collaboration time so we can share successes and ideas. That has been good for us, and continues to promise more potential for learning,” says Hutcheon.

The school is seeing students increase multiple levels in reading, and become more confident readers. “We are incredibly pleased,” says Thomson. “Having a calm environment and learning how to read are essential to our success as a school. I am proud of the work we’ve done together as a staff, and I’m looking forward to where we are going.”