Weyburn's Queen Elizabeth was highlighted for its success in classroom reading at the most recent board meeting for the South East Cornerstone School Division.

At the first board meeting of the school year on Sept. 15, Principal Joanne Thomson presented the success of the Tier Three Reading pilot, which was implemented at Queen Elizabeth.

The project was developed by the school division staff to support children in Grades 2 and 3 who struggle with learning to read in the classroom. During the three month intervention, reading growth rose 7.5 levels on average. Some children ranged from three levels of growth while others experienced 12 levels.

"It was very heartwarming to see little children coming to life with their reading," said Lynn Little, director of education for the school division.

Also shared during the meeting was short stories by three student services counsellors who travelled to La Loche in February and March, after the tragic school shooting in January at the La Loche Community School.

Little said the stories highlighted work the school division has done with violent threat risk assessment and trauma response.

"The counsellors spoke of the fact that it was the staff that they were to support, it was the students they were there to support, it was families and the community at large," said Little. "The number of people and how open the community was to receiving the support was really astounding for the councillors during their time there."

The final presentation for board members was on the monitoring report of the school board's System Goal #1: "Our students have opportunities to learn and succeed in every school."

Principal Cathy Harvey shared the work being done at Midale School on offering classes to meet students' interests. Through the Our School/Tell Them From Me program, students of Midale School identified courses such as special project credits, apprenticeship work, and career and exploration.

Also in the monitoring report was the overall graduation rate success in the school division.

The three-year graduation rate has risen to 85.1 per cent from 83 per cent, three years ago. The school division recently set a goal of 90 per cent for the three-year graduation rate.

The five-year extended graduation rate is at 89.4 per cent, which Little said is almost meeting the goal of 95 per cent.

"We will continue to strive towards those but we are seeing growth incrementally year over year," Little added.

Upcoming board elections are taking place on Oct. 26, with two available board positions in Weyburn. As of Monday, Warren Betker has submitted his name for nomination.

You can view the full highlights here.