Haisla Community School

Why Teach At Haisla Community School?

Haisla Community School integrates Haisla language and culture into student programming. Our vision is to nurture students holistically through a cultural lens to be confident, resilient and independent lifelong learners. We believe in ga wa tlaap (helping hands), wa sem key nulth (warm heart), aiks nu wa ka (good mind) and aiks wa lth dem (kind words).

Why You’ll Love It Here

Excellent professional development opportunities are available from FNESC and other organizations (in areas including special education, First Nations language, literacy and numeracy, and technology), and we encourage staff to build their capacity to meet student needs and explore new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Staff at our high-energy school are flexible and patient as they collaborate with other members of the team to meet the needs of students and deliver school programs and services. Staff also have access to a recreation facility for personal use.

Our School

Our elementary school offers education for students from full-day kindergarten to Grade 7 and is open to Haisla and non-Haisla students, with students bussed in from Kitamat town. We offer small class sizes with a teacher to student ratio (inclusive with EA support) of about 2:11.

The student learning environment is conducive to meeting student needs holistically, and includes providing mental health support on a weekly basis, applying Zones of Regulation techniques, offering experienced special education services (learning lab and intervention support) with the support from the FNESC Special Education Program and providing a daily nutritional breakfast and lunch program. Our school library includes a number of First Nation, Metis and Inuit literary resources.

A thriving and developing Haisla language and culture program promotes cross-curricular planning. Community-based offerings include Elder support and an in-house dedicated Haisla language teacher. We are well equipped technologically, with individual student iPads and Smart Boards in classrooms.

You’ll find a supportive and collaborative environment with the school administration, and a warm, friendly and caring school environment.

Our Community

Haisla Community School is located in the heart of Kitamaat Village, which sits at the head of the Douglas Channel. Living and working on the water has always been important to the Haisla – and it still is. The Haisla people have lived off the land and water resources of the Douglas Channel and our traditional territory for hundreds of years. It will continue to be the heart of everything we do. Kitamaat Village is about 10 kilometres from Kitimat and 45 kilometres from the airport at Terrace.

Kitimat is a coastal community that offers a mix of amenities and services in an established centre of approximately 9,000. Quality of life is balanced here and economic opportunities abound. Kitimat’s majestic setting is paradise, and indoor and outdoor recreation facilities and the surrounding wilderness encourage active west coast living. Kitimat has some of the world’s best fly fishing for trophy salmon and steelhead in the pristine Kitimat wilderness. Other outdoor recreational opportunities include hiking, fishing, kayaking, golf, and snowmobiling and cross country skiing.