It’s back-to-school time in Nunavut

Staff at Netsilik School in Taloyoak pose during a recent outing before the Aug.4 start of school in this western Nunavut community. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NETSILIK SCHOOL)

Students in the western Nunavut community of Taloyoak returned to school for a new academic year Aug. 4 — and it’s already shaping up to be a lucky year, says Taloyoak principal Gina Pizzo.

“It’s always a big excitement for the kids, when they’re waiting to go back to school,” Pizzo, who is starting her 27th year as principal of Netsilik School, told Nunatsiaq News Aug. 4.

Unlike some Nunavut schools which lost teaching positions this year, Pizzo said her school will have four and a half new positions this school year, which is “a very nice surprise.”

Two language coaches — one for each Inuktitut and English — have been added for this year, as well as positions for Grade 7, the senior high school, and a half-position at the upper elementary level, Pizzo said.

“I’m looking forward to the addition of the staffing positions….they’ve enabled me to increase the number of classes, and make some of the classes smaller so the kids are getting more attention,” said Pizzo.

“And the literacy coaches in both languages are a real boon as well.”

Pizzo’s staff, which now numbers 27 and a half positions with the new hires, will have a slightly increased number of students to teach this year, Pizzo said, as enrolment is up by five students to 338.

“We were lucky because we had two local teachers to come into a couple of the positions. And the other ones that we hired were already in Nunavut.”

That means her staff are all familiar with the community, or at least within Nunavut’s education system.

Of course, like most other Nunavut communities, Pizzo is already thinking of ways to address the chronic absentee problem that affects Nunavut schools, especially around Christmastime and during the spring.

In addition to the long list of extracurricular activities which Netsilik School offers every year, this year a knitting club has been added and the school’s music program has been extended all the way down to Kindergarten to benefit all students, Pizzo said.

“We just do whatever we can to make school a fun and exciting learning place for the kids,” she said.

And that seems to be working, as three classes have already booked their dates for the annual fall caribou hunt, Pizzo said.

For the yearly hunt, and other cultural activities the students look forward to throughout the school year, Pizzo said the school draws on the expertise of about 30 local elders.

Pizzo, who was named one of Canada’s outstanding principals in 2012, is now in her 31st year at Netsilik School.

When asked if she’s considering retiring any time soon, Pizzo said, “No way…I don’t think I’m the retiring type.”

Schools in Gjoa Haven and Kugaaruk will begin their school years shortly as well, while other schools in the Kitikmeot region, as well as the Baffin and Kivalliq regions, will start later this month.