Our School Story / 2022 - 2023

Our Story and Our Focus

History of Jessie Wowk

Jessie Wowk (1894-1993) and her family emigrated from the Ukraine with her parents in 1906. They purchased a farm on Steveston Highway. Jessie was also known as a humanitarian, and during the Depression she gave generously to those standing in the bread lines.  She is only the second woman in Richmond after Kate McNeely to have had a school named after her: Jessie Wowk Elementary School, which opened in 1992.

Who are we?

Welcome to Jessie Wowk.  We are a vibrant community of learners, staff and families striving to inspire curiosity, celebrate learning and promote social responsibility. Together we honour caring for self, others, and this place.  It is within this climate of respect and understanding that our students are motivated to explore, follow their passions, and express their learning in a variety of ways. Our new Library Learning Commons and Outdoor Learning Area both provide redesigned spaces for students to develop ideas and work collaboratively.  As well, these spaces provide students with opportunities to explore the world around them by engaging in a variety of materials and technology and deepens their understanding of what lies beyond the doors of Jessie Wowk.   

This year we are continuing to look at how to support our students in their social / emotional learning and think about all that we can do as a staff to maintain a safe and caring learning community and provide our students with rich learning experiences. We know that all of us, our staff, students and families, have gone through a lot for the past couple of years and the pandemic has brought us to really think about how we can be resilient and be there for one another despite the challenges.  

For this school year of 2022 - 2023, we continued on with our School Focus of:

How can be the use of school-wide common language be of benefit to our learners in their Social / Emotional Learning? What could this common language look like, sound like and feel like?

 

Our Evidence Posts