Connection between students, staff is key at Focus High School

Focus High School, located in Montreal’s Southwest borough, seeks to cultivate a nurturing environment that encourages students to develop an openness toward school and a love for learning.

For head teacher Skylar Adams, a nurturing environment involves more than simply providing students with a space they want to be in. “It also includes the human element. The staff treat them like their own […] and when a kid is hurting, we hurt,” he said. Part of the Outreach Network within the English Montreal School Board, Focus provides smaller class sizes and specialized support for students who have experienced academic or behavioural difficulties in school. Students are referred by either a social worker or their former school.

Unlike in a traditional classroom, Adams said students are given the opportunity to clear their heads before delving directly into learning, and staff recognize that personal challenges can make it difficult for a student to perform academically.

Balancing academics within such an environment is “an ongoing challenge,” he said. Nonetheless, the school has adopted several strategies to maintain the nurturing atmosphere it has fostered. For example, staff meet weekly to discuss student performance and adapt learning strategies in response to the challenges individual students may be facing.

Better understanding what a student is currently dealing with allows staff to be more adaptive and thoughtful in their teaching strategies, Adams said. “We make a concerted effort to look at solution-based approaches.”

Paola Borzone, a psychologist at the school, echoes that support staff play a key role in The importance of communication also extends to parents at home, according to Adams. “I call home quite a bit,” he said,  the school’s success. Each class is assigned both a teacher and a behaviour technician, she explained. “If a kid is having a moment or coming to school with any sort of emotional problem, there’s always some-body that will sit aside with them and talk to them […] and it’s whoever the kid feels most comfortable with,” she added.

Borzone believes this approach better allows students to create a mindset that is conducive to learning.

The importance of communication also extends to parents at home, according to Adams. “I call home quite a bit,” he said,