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8:00 - 9:00 amWelcome and Keynote Address by Kurtis and Lorna Hewson(founders of Collaborative Response) | |
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9:15 - 10:15 amBreakout Session #1 | |
| A1: Our Journey Towards Collaborative Response at F.G. Miller Jr./Sr. High School 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 five stages that can best be described as: Initial Skepticism, Cautious Optimism, Increasing Buy-In, Refreshed Commitment, and Growing Complexity. At each stage we will share our major successes (with accompanying resources) and difficulties (with suggestions to avoid our mistakes) Presenters: John Braga and Colin Bjorkman | |
| A2: Aligning a Vision within a Division Northern Gateway Public Schools has been using Collaborative Team Meetings and Collaborative Response for many years, but recognized they needed to align the roles and responsibilities of Inclusive Education Facilitators (IEF) within our school division. This session will describe 1) how NGPS began the alignment within the division, using Collaborative Response as our basis, 2) how NGPS have used Collaborative Team Meetings to support the Inclusive Education Facilitators and 3) how they continue to build robust supports for students. Presenter: Bev Cotton | |
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10:30 - 11:30 amBreakout Session #2 | |
| B1: Collaborative Response - Implementing a Systemic Vision (Year 2) 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. Presenters: David Dyck and Chris Radu | |
| B2: Unleashing the Power of the Team (HW Pickup School) 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. Presenters: Keri Card-Esau and Kim Wedman | |
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12:30 - 1:30 pmBreakout Session #3 | |
| C1: You’re Kidding! They’re ALL my Kids? The Power of Shared Ownership 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. Presenters: Helene Hewitt and Stacy Siminick | |
| C2: Building School Culture Through Collaborative Response Creating a thriving school culture requires more than isolated initiatives—it demands a collective commitment to shared values, purposeful collaboration, and strategic leadership. This session explores how Collaborative Response can serve as a powerful framework to foster a positive, inclusive, and high-performing school culture. Discover how Collaborative Response can transform school culture by fostering collective efficacy, trust, and shared leadership. This session offers practical strategies to build inclusive, high-performing environments through clear communication, aligned priorities, and collaborative structures that support every learner. Presenter: Darrin DeForge | |
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1:45 - 2:45 pmBreakout Session #4 | |
| D1: Using WeCollab to Enhance Your Collaborative Response Efforts Trevor Van Someren joined Jigsaw Learning in August 2025 as a WeCollab Lead and is excited to share the WeCollab software! This session will offer an overview of the WeCollab platform and it's features, demonstrating the boards and team meeting features, and will answer any questions about the WeCollab platform, including how it can support collaboration in your school or district. As an experienced WeCollab user as a school principal, he is able to offer first hand experience and advice on how to optimize collaboration using WeCollab to augment and support Collaborative Response. Presenters: Trevor Van Someren | |
| D2: Nurturing Executive Functioning for Academic Success (École James S. McCormick School) 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. Presenters: Melissa Rogers and Kacey Oehlerking | |
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3:00 - 3:30 pm |