Takhini Elementary School
Welcome to Takhini Elementary School!
Takhini Elementary acknowledges and celebrates that we operate our school on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.
School Calendar
Takhini Elementary School
School Growth Plan
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Literacy
Our goal is to support learners in developing strong literacy skills while fostering an understanding and appreciation of First Nation culture and values. We aim for students to connect with stories, oral traditions, and written language that reflect their cultural heritage. By embedding local cultural content into reading and writing activities, utilizing culturally relevant texts, and engaging community members as storytellers and resources, we will nurture both literacy proficiency and cultural identity. Students will become confident readers and writers who honor and incorporate First Nation perspectives every day.
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Numeracy
Our aim is to enhance learners' numeracy skills in ways that are meaningful within their cultural context. We seek to incorporate land-based activities, local examples, and culturally relevant scenarios into mathematics instruction. This approach will help students see the relevance of numeracy in their daily lives and in caring for their land and community. Ensuring that First Nation values such as respect, community, and harmony are reflected in problem-solving and mathematical activities will foster a sense of engagement and identity for our Learners.
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Whole Child
Our goal is to foster the holistic development of each student by nurturing their physical, emotional, social, and cultural well-being. We aim to create a school environment where First Nation culture and values are seamlessly integrated into daily routines, lessons, and interactions. This will be achieved through culturally responsive pedagogy, incorporating local stories, traditions, and teachings into the curriculum, pd, utilizing culturally relevant resources, and designing learning spaces that reflect and celebrate the First Nation heritage.
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Land & Language
We aim to strengthen students' connection to their land and cultural identity by integrating local land-based knowledge and language into the curriculum. This approach will support students in understanding their heritage, fostering respect for the land, and developing valuable skills.
What makes FNSB schools different
Accountability
We take the words of past reports and the wisdom of our communities seriously. The Auditor General Reports of 2009 and 2019, the Joint Education Action Plan (JEAP), and the various reports from the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate (YCAO) have given us a clear map with checkpoints to ensure the needs of our Learners are met and our communities are heard and empowered. An overarching theme of these reports is accountability. You cannot have accountability without objective data and transparency.
Through our Yukon First Nation values, we have built all aspects of FNSB around this, especially how our schools operate and support our Learners' education. Everything from our school growth plans, to teacher evaluations, academic assessments, and the development of new data measures for cultural connection and belonging, FNSB is ensuring we are accountable to our Learners, families, First Nations, communities, and the public.
Together with local First Nations
We are changing what education looks like at Takhini Elementary School because local First Nation citizens are involved and leading everything from staffing and budgets to school rules and programming. Our school is a part of the community, not separate from it. Our Leadership Team includes education leaders from Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, and our localized governance model of Community Committees, made up of citizens and families, enables our community to genuinely share the delivery of public education.
High Expectations, High Support
Takhini Elementary School follows the BC Curriculum, and we work with Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council to integrate local knowledge, histories, languages, and cultures with high academic rigour. We know true learning engages minds by reflecting lived experiences and fostering a sense of belonging. Our community should maintain high expectations of our Learners, and the Educators and School Teams entrusted to teach them. In reciprocity, all Learners, Educators, and families are supported through a localized First Nations approach, which is strengths-based and wraps around the whole person, not only one aspect.
Inclusive of all
All Learners, Educators, and families are welcome at Takhini Elementary School. Every decision we make holds our Learners and families at the centre. We provide education grounded in reconciliation. A Yukon First Nations model puts the whole Learner first through a strengths-based and community-centred approach. We all hold the privilege and the responsibility to learn about and from the people, teachings, and languages of this land.
