Retreat Schedule


Thursday, May 1, 2025 - Pre-Retreat

9:00 am - 3:30 pm

Pre-Retreat Overview Workshop - Collaborative Response: Every Child Deserves a Team

PLEASE NOTE - The May 1 Pre-Retreat session is NOT included in the regular conference registration.

    • Kurtis Hewson and Lorna Hewson, Lead Learners and Co-Founders, Jigsaw Learning
    • Feeling overwhelmed with the expectations being placed on teachers, leaders and educational systems to respond to the diverse needs of our learners? Ensuring success for all students is a moral imperative for all schools, but takes a highly coordinated framework of structures and processes within a school to maximize the collective capacity of the team. Come learn about Collaborative Response, an organizational mindset that involves some fundamental shifts for schools and districts, such as layering collaborative team structures, transforming how we talk about student needs, focusing on students close to meeting expectations through thoughtful organization of data and evidence and ensuring tiering of supports rather than students. Simple shifts that emerge through a focus on Collaborative Response and the good news is that some likely already exist in your building! Numerous school and district examples, as well as access to a large number of resources, will be provided for school leaders wishing to join hundreds of schools using Collaborative Response to ensure high levels of success for students and staff!
    • All participants will receive a copy of the text Collaborative Response: Three Foundational Components That Transform How We Respond to the Needs of Learners (Corwin, 2022) included as part of the registration fee.
    • This session is offered as a full day session prior to the annual Collaborative Response Retreat, happening May 2-3. Participants must register separately or as part of the 3-day Pre-Retreat + Retreat registration option.
    • Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Friday, May 2, 2025 - Retreat Day 1

8:00 - 9:00 am

Continental Breakfast and Registration

9:00 am

Welcome and Establishing Team Planning

10:15 am

Break

10:30 - 11:30 am

A1: You’re Kidding! They’re ALL my Kids? The Power of Shared Ownership
  • Helene Hewitt, Principal - Davidson Creek Elementary - Elk Island Public Schools
  • Stacy Siminick, Teacher - Davidson Creek Elementary - Elk Island Public Schools
  • Grades K-6, 650 students
  • As we complete our third year of implementing Collaborative Response, we have learned many lessons. Join us to learn how Collaborative Response can support a shift from a "me and mine" perspective to "us and ours" world view. Learn about the challenges we overcame and the innovative solutions that we implemented as a result of teacher collective efficacy. We will share how great things can happen when teachers trust each other and care about all of the students in their grade level. While we have not yet figured it all out, we are happy to share some examples of how high levels of trust, coupled with a shared passion for student success leads to calculated risk taking that benefits all students.
  • Fueling Instructional Innovation Through Collaborative Response with Davidson Creek Elementary - Listen to this podcast featuring Helene and Stacy!
A2: Our Journey: Optimizing Timetable Structures for Collaborative Response in Middle Schools
  • Andrea Petroni, Principal - Sir Wilfrid Laurier School - Calgary Board of Education
  • Tanya Dann, Assistant Principal - Dr. Gordon Higgins School - Calgary Board of Education
  • Grades 6-9, 479 students
  • In our middle school, we recognized that student success depends on timely, tailored support, and that effective collaboration among educators is essential. Through our journey with Collaborative Response, we learned that optimizing timetable structures was key to fostering meaningful collaboration, aligning interventions, and meeting the diverse needs of our students. In this session, we will share how we restructured our school schedule to create consistent time for layered meetings and targeted support, ensuring all students received the attention they needed.
    Key focus areas include: aligning time for team collaboration, where we reimagined our timetable to provide structured opportunities for teachers, support staff, and leaders to collaborate around student needs; introducing a layered approach to meetings, with tiered team structures to engage classroom teachers, intervention specialists, and school leadership in data-driven decision making; and building flexibility into the schedule to allow for small-group interventions and individualized support, based on real-time student data.
  • Establishing Collaborative Response for Middle School Success at Sir Wilfrid Laurier School - Listen to this podcast featuring Andrea and Tanya!
A3: The Layers of Collaborative Response at Innisfail High School
  • Chris Adamson, Principal - Innisfail High School - Chinook's Edge School Division
  • Grades 9-12, 350 students
  • In this session, Chris will share the value of layering collaborative structures and processes within a school and how the introduction of a very intentional collaborative team meeting can work to respond to the needs of students collaboratively, while increasing the instructional capacity of everyone involved. Chris will share what each layer looks like at Innisfail High School, including new processes that support students with lagging executive function skills.
  • How to Grow Collaborative Response with Intentionality and Purpose with Chris Adamson - Ep 57 - Listen to this podcast featuring Chris!
A4: Our Journey Towards Collaborative Response at F.G. Miller Jr./Sr. High School
  • John Braga, Teacher - F.G. Miller Jr/Sr High School - St. Paul Education
  • Grades 7-12, 200 students
  • F.G. Miller Jr./Sr. High School began adopting the Collaborative Response framework in August 2023 as part of a school board wide initiative. This session invites you to share our journey towards Collaborative Response, as we progressed through four stages that can best be described as: Initial Skepticism, Cautious Optimism, Increasing Buy-In, and Current Commitment. At each stage we will share our major successes (with accompanying resources) and difficulties (with suggestions to avoid our mistakes).
  • Unifying Purpose Through Collaborative Response at FG Miller Jr/Sr High with John Braga - Listen to this podcast featuring John!
A5: Re-Envisioning Divisional Inclusive Supports through Collaborative Response
11:30 am - 12:00 pm

Structures Team Planning Time

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm

Lunch

12:45 pm

Structured Team Planning Time

1:20 pm

Break

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
B1: Using WeCollab to Augment Collaborative Response in a K-8 School
B2: From Collaborative Team Meeting to Intentional Classroom Instruction: Building Our Instructional Playbook Together
  • Darrin DeForge, Principal - Joan Carr Catholic Elementary/Junior High School - Edmonton Catholic School Division
  • Grades K-9, 950 students
  • In many cases we come out of a Collaborative Team Meeting in which effective teacher generated strategies are shared, however those strategies may be shared within a grade group or maybe a division. In this session, we will take you through a journey whereby collectively the staff of Joan Carr Catholic Elementary/Junior High school are creating an Instructional Playbook that takes the many effective instructional strategies teachers are already using in the building and through a simple, common framework, we are creating a site specific Instructional Playbook that meets the learning needs of the students in our school community. Our staff work from a mindset and culture of Collective and Self-Efficacy and we are ready to take our Collaborative Team Meetings to the next level.
  • Deepening Instructional Clarity and Support for All Through Collaborative Response with Darrin DeForge - 2025 Retreat Bonus - Listen to this podcast featuring Darrin!
B3: Collaborative Response at the High School Level
B4: Unleashing the Power of the Team
  • Keri Card-Esau, Principal - H.W. Pickup Middle School - Wild Rose School Division
  • Kim Wedman, Learning Services Coordinator - Wild Rose School Division
  • Grades 5-8, 470 students
  • Being a school leader is a daunting task. Leaders are innovators, problem solvers and in many ways the heart of their schools. Creating a school environment where purposeful collaboration is the driver of instruction, assessment, inclusion and school culture is of utmost importance. The journey to the creation of a robust and purposeful collaboration plan can be fraught with messiness, creativity and learning for everyone. Come join us as we take a candid look at how collaboration can support you as you draw together the power of your team to meet the needs of your students at all levels- whether in your classrooms, as a school, or at divisional level.
  • Acknowledging the Messiness When Implementing Collaborative Response w/ Keri Card-Esau and Kim Wedman - Listen to this podcast featuring Keri and Kim!
B5: Collaborative Response – Implementing a Systemic Vision (Year 2)
  • David Dyck, Education Director - School Improvement - Calgary Board of Education
  • Chris Radu, Education Director - Inclusive Education - Calgary Board of Education
  • 138,000 students, 250 schools
  • The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) initiated a partnership with Jigsaw learning in 2020 and continues on a journey to implement Collaborative Response as strategic support for every student across every CBE school. In creating a systemic vision, we looked at what layered structures would be required for a successful rollout. This included clarifying and communicating our vision, creating professional learning sessions, and developing CBE defined documents to aid in bringing cohesion to the work being taken up in schools. A key consideration for us was the current context in schools related to effectively determining goals, timelines, and communication for this work to gain traction in our schools. In this session, we will share what we have learned along the path of enacting our vision in both our first and second years of systemic implementation.
2:30 pm

Break

2:40 pm - 3:15 pm

Structured Team Planning Time

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm

Mock Collaborative Team Meeting - led by Kurtis Hewson and Jennifer Ferguson

3:45 pm

Closing remarks for the day

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Social Gathering - onsite at the Lacombe Memorial Centre

Saturday, May 3, 2025 - Retreat Day 2

8:00 am

Breakfast

9:00 am

Welcome Back Address

9:15 - 10: 15 am
C1: Nurturing Executive Functioning for Academic Success
  • Melissa Rogers, Principal - École James S. McCormick School - Wolf Creek Public Schools
  • Kacey Oehlerking, Assistant Principal - École James S. McCormick School - Wolf Creek Public Schools
  • Grades K-3, 450 students
  • The high demand for social-emotional support is leading to academic and behavioural challenges in elementary school settings. We understand that students cannot learn effectively if their basic needs are unmet, as emotional stability is essential for learning and overall well-being. To address this, we are collecting data on the effectiveness of our Tier 1 and Tier 2 strategies in fostering executive functioning for all students. This involves classroom observations, supervisory visits, discussions during PD, CTM and Intervention team meetings with teachers and support staff. By intentionally embedding Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports into our daily practices and deepening our understanding of executive functioning we aim to provide more effective supports to meet the needs of our students. Embracing a team mindset; recognizing that it truly takes a village to raise a child, ensures that we can holistically support our students' growth and success.
C2: Timetabling to Facilitate Collaborative Response
  • Jaret Hofer, Principal - Brooks Junior High School - Grasslands Public Schools
  • Robyn Jensen, Vice Principal - Brooks Junior High School - Grasslands Public Schools
  • Grades 7-9, 565 students
  • Discover how a thoughtfully designed timetable can transform collaboration and improve both teaching practices and student outcomes. This session will explore the innovative approach taken at BJHS to facilitate the successful implementation of Collaborative Response. Attendees will learn how BJHS leveraged a linear timetable to provide weekly common collaborative planning time, common unassigned time, and a strategic structure built around Humanities PODS, STEM PODS, and a PE POD. Whether you’re a school leader, teacher, or educational planner, this session will provide practical insights and actionable strategies to design schedules that prioritize collaboration and foster meaningful results. Leave inspired with ideas to transform your school’s timetable into a powerful tool for collective success!
C3: Collaborative Structures and the Role of the Learning Leader


  • As leaders, we know in order to ensure that quality teaching will result in optimal learning for students, we must be consistent in analyzing our contexts and leadership decisions through continuous cycles of improvement. At Peter Lougheed School, fostering student success requires individualized attention as well as a focused shift toward collaboration at every level. This session explores how building effective collaborative structures, with a focus on the role of the Learning Leader, can enhance student success, engagement, learning and well-being. Participants will explore how Collaborative Response has contributed to building the capacity of Learning Leaders and as a result, teachers, to respond to the learning needs of all students.
C4: From Administrative Teams to Community Childcare Centers, Collaborative Team Meetings Foster Positive Relationships and Build Collective Efficacy
C5: Aligning a Vision within a Division
  • Bev Cotton, Director of Learning Supports - Northern Gateway Public Schools
  • 5,000 students
  • Our school division has been using Collaborative Team Meetings and Collaborative Response for many years. We have built and are using a Quality Learning Environment within our school division to enhance the learning environment for our students. As we are continually researching and reflecting on how we were using Quality Learning Environments, Collaborative Response and Collaborative Team Meetings (CTM) and having the belief this is how we could be transitioning and supporting our students, a gap began to emerge. We needed to align the roles and responsibilities of Inclusive Education Facilitators (IEF) within our school division. We have IEFs participating in the CTMs and being a key member of the QLE Leadership teams but we did not know what their role looked like. We have children who have a team with them! However, we needed to look at the foundational components of Collaborative Response and build it for our IEFS. We knew this needed to be brought into alignment between these two driving components in our Division, and with the alignment we would become clearer about the purpose and role of an IEF. This is how we support children, and our staff who are working with children. We are doing this now - clearly defining the roles and building the continuum of supports from the lens of an IEF within our school division.
    This session will describe how we began the alignment within NGPS, using Collaborative Response as our basis, how we have used Collaborative Team Meetings to support the Inclusive Education Facilitators within NGPS and thus build the supports for our students.
  • Aligning A Vision within a Division Through Collaborative Response w/ Bev Cotton - Listen to this podcast featuring Bev!
10:15 am

Break

10:30 am - 11:00 am

Structured Team Planning Time

11:00 - 11:30 am

Team Sharing and Networking - Focused sharing of your team plan

11:30 am

Closing Remarks and Door Prize Giveaway

12:00 pm
    • Grab your snacks provided for the trip home or
    • Stay and have one-on-one connection time with Kurtis and/or Lorna or demo the WeCollab software