Chief Superintendent Lynnette Anderson's March 2026 Message
March is an exciting and eventful month for Edmonton Catholic Schools. As is my custom, here are just a few examples of the truth, beauty, and goodness being experienced within our amazing Christ-centred community.
TRUTH. Lent is a time to fully open our hearts to the truth of Christ’s Death and Resurrection. In his first Lent as Pope, our Holy Father Pope Leo offers a thoughtful Message for Lent, which concludes with the following request:
"Dear friends, let us ask for the grace of a Lent that leads us to greater attentiveness to God and to the least among us. Let us ask for the strength that comes from the type of fasting that also extends to our use of language, so that hurtful words may diminish and give way to a greater space for the voice of others. Let us strive to make our communities places where the cry of those who suffer finds welcome, and listening opens paths towards liberation, making us ready and eager to contribute to building a civilization of love."
BEAUTY. ECSD holds many events to celebrate the beauty of our Catholic faith. One such event is our annual Father Michael “Catfish” Mireau Youth Faith Day, when Grade 8 students participate in a Eucharistic Mass and are inspired by Jesse Manibusan – the internationally acclaimed speaker, songwriter, humorist, and catechist. Through story and song, Jesse unfolds the beauty of serving others, especially those who suffer. This event is a truly uplifting faith formation experience.
GOODNESS. The goodness within Edmonton Catholic Schools flows from the generous and loving contributions of our amazing ECSD community. Each and every staff member plays a role in shaping the lives of our students. As our student population increases, our staff population must also increase. Thankfully, the Government of Alberta recently announced funding for Classroom Complexity Teams as a first step in addressing class size and complexity. Each Classroom Complexity Team will be composed of one teacher and two educational assistants. Teams have already been allocated to specific elementary schools by the Ministry of Education and Childcare based on recently collected classroom complexity data. The ministry’s decision to allocate teams to the highest complexity classrooms in the earliest grades reflects its commitment to early intervention.
ECSD is grateful to have received funding for 42 Classroom Complexity Teams. We have notified the elementary schools selected by the ministry to receive teams, and our next step is to staff the teams as efficiently and effectively as possible. Although these teams are a good first step, we are pleased that the province acknowledges that more needs to be done towards addressing class size and complexity. It is our hope that Budget 2026, to be tabled soon, will contain increased funding to support teaching and learning at all grade levels.
I have spent the last couple of months visiting schools to witness the many ways in which staff are bringing an excellent Catholic education to life for their students. Every school in our Division is visited at least once a year by a member of our Superintendent team for a thorough review of their School Plan for Continuous Growth and to learn about their successes and unique opportunities for growth. This is just one of the steps that we take in order to provide assurance to our families that we have student growth and achievement, rooted in faith, at the centre of our Edmonton Catholic Schools.
Finally, I would like to wish our ECSD community a wonderful and much-deserved Spring Break. Please join me in using this time to reflect on the gift of a publicly funded Catholic education system, and to thank God for the opportunity to strengthen and promote Catholic education. Let us return from Spring Break rejuvenated and ready to continue our journey towards, as Pope Leo describes it, “…a civilization of love.”
Sincerely,
Lynnette Anderson
Chief Superintendent
- Read Father Glenn's Lenten Reflection, The Unique Gentleness of Jesus
- To see our upcoming Division events, visit ecsd.net/calendar