We have posted 3 of 5 volumes of "What Was Said" workbook submission reports in the library. The other 2 volumes will be posted in the next few days.  Please consider the environment before you print the reports - these 3 volumes represent almost 400 pages.

We will post the analysis of all participant input from April to June shortly - stay tuned for the summary of all the input you have provided so far!

The public engagement process for the Greater Hardisty Area and City Center Educational Partnership brought together a wide diversity of community members through a variety of different opportunities and activities between September 2009 and January 2010.  A detailed evaluation of the measures of success for a meaningful public engagement process was conducted at the conclusion of the consultation process and was part of Dialogue Partners’ report to Edmonton Public Schools in January 2010.  

We have now concluded an evaluation of the outcomes of public input and resulting recommendations, decisions and implementation.  This report is posted in the library of the website on the right.  Where a link between input and decision-making exists, that link has been documented.  Ideas, suggestions or comments that were not reflected in recommendations, decisions or implementation have also been indicated, along with some information on the rationale for not using the input.

 Thanks!

On Friday June 25 we picked up the last of the completed workbooks from sector schools.  We'll be analyzing all the input from workbooks, forums and other sessions over the summer.

Our thanks go to everyone who submitted a workbook - we really appreciate the time you took to give us your input.

We look forward to seeing you at one of the workshops in the fall.

We've posted Questions and Answers Edition 2 to the library on the website.  We're a little late with the update this week, as the questions are getting more detailed, and we've been working on getting reports posted as well.  Edition 2 includes entirely new questions and answers, and doesn't repeat what was provided in Edition 1. We hope these are helpful - let us know if you have more questions.

Thanks!

Remember - the Community Forum for the Central Sector is scheduled for Saturday June 19, from 9am-12:30pm.  The session will be at Victoria School at 10210 - 108 Avenue.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Remember - June 18 is the deadline to complete your workbooks and send them in.  We'll do our last pick up of printed workbooks from schools in sectors under review on June 25, 2010.  Make sure you take the opportunity to share your views in this initial stage of the discussion.  Tell us what is important to YOU.

What Was Said reports from the May 29 Community Forum in South Central Sector, June 3 school staff forum, and the June 5 West 1 Community Forum have been posted to the library in the "Community Forums" folder.  We've also posted the May 29 Evaluation report there as well.

This week we'll post the reports from the first YOUth Talk sessions as well.

THANKS for all your input!

We have been asked many questions over the last few weeks.  We've posted answers to 49 of those questions in the library of the website.

Once a week, we'll add to those answers and post more information.

Thanks for asking!

Please attend a forum to discuss your ideas, issues and concerns:

June 5 from 9am-12:30pm - FOCUS: West 1 Sector

Ross Sheppard School, 13546-111 Avenue

June 19 from 9am-12:30pm - FOCUS: Central Sector

Victoria School, 10210 - 108 Avenue NW

Look forward to seeing you there!

The first community forum for the sector review process was held at Strathcona School on Saturday May 29th.  A turnout of approximately 80 participants spent the morning discussing items of concern specific to South Central Sector.

Participants with children in the following schools attended: Lendrum, Landsdowne, Clara Tyner, King Edward, Ottewell, Strathcona, Belgravia, Malmo, McKernan, Parkallen, Rutherford and Avalon.  A few community league representatives and community members also attended.  Trustees Rice and Ripley, along with EPSB staff were present to listen to comments and input.

The group identified several topics they wanted to discuss and lots of valuable information was collected on a variety of items including: community, urban revitalization, programming, process and information needs, funding, environmental sustainability, working collaboratively with other organizations / governments.  The full report containing all the information shared by participants will be posted on the website within 2 weeks.

We're looking forward to seeing you at an upcoming Community Forum!  

The forums will bring people together to talk about values and what is important to you to create the foundation for developing options in the fall.  We'll discuss what is working well in area schools, what can be improved, and your ideas, issues and concerns about what is important to you in your area.

We've posted the agenda for the Forums in the library (on the right of this site), and listed the main questions people will discuss. Some people who aren't able to attend the forums have asked us to do this so they can respond to those questions too. If you can't come, please just send us an email, or drop your responses off at your local school where we'll pick them up. And please consider participating in another way as well - online, via the workbook, or at a workshop in the fall.

May 29, 9am-12:30pm, FOCUS - South Central Sector, Strathcona School, 10450-72 Avenue

June 5, 9am-12:30pm, FOCUS - West 1 Sector, Ross Sheppard School, 13546-111 Avenue

June 19, 9am-12:30pm, FOCUS - Central Sector, Victoria School, 10210-108 Avenue

Hope to see you there!

We hosted two Public Engagement 101 workshops for community groups, organizations and parent councils on May 19.   We had 32 participants in the morning session and 21 participants in the evening session.

Many great comments and questions were raised and we are working on getting answers to those for you.  We'll post them here on the website so everyone can read them.

UPDATE - As requested, we've now posted the questions (without answers) along with the notes from the session in the library.  Answers will follow soon!

The presentation from the workshop is now posted in the library (on the right of this website).

Looking forward to seeing you at an upcoming Community Forum!

A reminder that the online fillable pdf workbook is in the library.  Please have a look at the information, answer the questions, and send it in.  We've starting receiving a few, and we look forward to hearing more!

Here's a tip we heard from a workbook user - if you save the workbook to your computer and then open it, it works better than trying to open it directly from the site and answer the questions or print.

We recently had two people contact us about the Issues Analysis report from the survey submissions, wondering about the numbers we listed in response to the question about which area people live in, and/or what school their children go to.  

As a result of those inquiries, we went back to the all of the original submissions and realized we had inadvertently listed only the responses to part a of that question (what area do you live in), and not part b (what school(s) do your children go to).  

We've revised the analysis report to include those numbers and posted it in the library.  Thanks to those two people for reading and noticing we'd inadvertently left something out!

There are two workshops scheduled for May 19, focused on the what, where, when and how of the public engagement process, specifically for parent councils, community leagues and community organizations.

May 19, 9am-12pm, Robbins Health Learning Centre, Grant MacEwan University, room 9-207, 10910 - 104 Avenue

May 19, 7pm-9pm, Centre for Education, One Kingsway, (added after we received requests for evening sessions)

PLEASE RSVP your attendance so we have sufficient materials, as space is limited.  You can send a note to info@dialoguepartners.ca Thanks!

We've heard that some people are having challenges with the workbook and are unable to download Adobe version 8 /9 in order to use the online fillable version.

We've arranged to have a version of the workbook created in Adobe version 5, now posted in the library to the right.

We'd also like to sincerely apologize for a typo in the West 1 elementary school attendance area map.  On the previous version of the workbook, and on printed copies in schools, The Youngstown area says "3" and it should say "224".  That mistake has been corrected in the new version posted online.

Thanks and keep sending them in - we're glad to see so many responses already!

We know that 400+ survey responses isn't exactly light reading, but we wanted to be sure everyone had a chance to see what people said, in their own words.  (Volumes 1 and 2 of the submissions are posted in the library on the right of this site).

However, we did do an analysis and summary of those responses to help us develop the Public Engagement process.  That document is now posted in the library on the right of this site in the "Interviews and survey responses" folder.

Thanks again for all the input.

For - Parent Councils, Community Leagues and Community organizations.

When - May 19, 2010 from 9am-12pm AND NOW also May 19, 2010 from 7pm - 9pm.  Pick the one that works best for you.

RSVP - to info@dialoguepartners.ca and tell us which session you would like to attend, and we'll send registration information.

We heard from a number of people that we needed an evening session to accommodate volunteers.  We hope this means you can participate!

Filled with facts and information, and questions for your input, the workbook is posted in the library on the right of this website.  

Let us know your thoughts, comments, ideas, and suggestions before the end of June.  You can complete it on your own, or get a group together to discuss.

NOTE: You need to download the workbook to your computer.  Use the latest version of Acrobat Reader - Version 8 /9.  This can be downloaded free from http//get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/  You can save the form if you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat. Otherwise, you can also fill in your form, print it out, and then scan and email, fax, mail or drop it off at your local school.

We know you want to know when meetings wil be held and we're working hard to develop a public engagement plan. Here is some information to get you started.

April - In order to plan a meaningful process we are conducting interviews, and recieving responses from the community of those same questions - that input will help us plan a process that is as responsive as possible, within time constraints and budget, to the needs of participants. As well, we have a Public Engagement Advisory Committee meeeting scheduled for April 22, and we want their input on the engagement process before we move too far ahead. A Core Value of meaningful engagement is to involve people in planning process that considers their needs, and April is focused on these activities.

May -we hope to release a workbook with data, facts and information that asks key questions for community input.

Late May / June - We plan to hold community forums to talk to people about what is important to them, their priorities, concerns, issues and ideas.

Fall - We will hold workshops so participants can weigh the input from workbooks and forums with additional facts and data to propose options.

We will post the dates for meetings as soon as we have them confirmed.

In order to create the public engagement plan we will be conducting interviews. These interviews will help us understand issues and values of importance, and your experience and awareness about sector planning so far.

Interviews will be conducted between March 29 and April 20, 2010, and will include a range of people from different communties, perspectives and viewpoints.

If you aren't contacted for an interview, and would like to answer the interview questions, you can download them from the library on this website (in the library, right column), and email or fax your responses. We'll prepare a report from the responses, but we'll be sure to maintain confidentiality of respondents.

Working with Dialogue Partners Inc., Edmonton Public Schools has initiated Sector Planning Reviews for schools in the South Central, Central and West 1 sectors of Edmonton. We are seeking YOUR involvement in this process so that we can understand  your needs, concerns, ideas and issues.

Why do we want your input?

We want to understand your concerns and views. This is your community, your school, and/or your children that may be affected, so your thoughts and opinions are very important.

We are just starting to plan the public engagement process, and as soon as we have dates of events and meetings we'll let you know right away. Stay tuned for upcoming information on how to get involved.

Join the list !

Send us an email at info@dialoguepartners.ca to be sure you are on our contact list for news and information.