R. J. Tait Elementary

My name is Bill Juhasz and I am the Principal of Tait Elementary School. On behalf of, our new Vice-Principal (Mrs. Sandy Haras) and our amazing Tait Staff, I welcome you to Tait Elementary School's web site. This is our first year together as an administration team and we are very excited about what we have planned for the coming year.

Tait School is a Kindergarten through Grade Seven Elementary School with a current enrollment of about 315 students. We boast an incredible staff of professionals, paraprofessionals and support staff who are dedicated to creating a rich, exciting, and extensive educational experience for every child who comes through our doors.

Parents are also a huge part of what makes Tait a fantastic community school. Check out the PAC link to see more information on how you can get involved and join the team. Please do not hesitate to call for an appointment to see our school. We will be proud to show you our building, and the wonderful people within its walls.

For the 2009/10 school year our school-wide goal will find us continuing to apply the principles of “Assessment For Learning” focusing on oral language in the areas of literacy and mathematical problem solving. In concert with our school-wide goal and our 6 professional development days, we endeavour to host throughout the year 5 school-wide assessments of our students' ability to read. Upon completion of those assessments, teachers will assess previous goals, assess trends within their class, and set new goals. These assessments and their results will help guide teacher decisions on how and what they will teach. These finding are shared 3 times peryear with colleagues of the same or similar age group. These assessment guide our teaching practice. Collaboration is a one of our staff's main foci. You will notice that we have as many combined classes as possible to ensure the greatest number of collaborative working partnerships and balanced classooms.

Tait History

Robert J. Tait Elementary School was built in 1955 as a primary annex to Bridgeport Elementary School (which used to be on the corner of Sexsmith and Airport Way). The Tait community is a small community bordered by business, industry, the north arm of the Fraser River, and the tangled web of highways connecting Richmond with Vancouver and beyond. The catchment area includes a mixture of single family dwellings, many of which have been built within the last decade, as well as multi-family townhome complexes. We are also located under the third runway flightpath to the Vancouver International Airport!

Tait School was named for Mr. Robert J. Tait who owned a series of pioneer farmsteads in East Richmond from 1895 until 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Tait (Jessie) had seven children - four sons and three daughters. The property on which the school is located was lived on and operated by one of his sons- Buck Tait. Mr. Robert John Tait was for several years a member of the Richmond Municipal Council and was also active in provincial and federal politics. For the last ten years of their lives, the Taits lived in Marpole where they built and managed the Marpole Theatre!

Tait School began inauspiciously as a two room school for primary grades only. Since the mid-seventies, it has undergone many changes to become the architecturally and spiritually beautiful and complete elementary school that it is today where teachers, parents, and support staff work together to provide a safe, supportive, and academically stimulating environment for the children we share. in 2006, Tait celebrated it's 50th Anniversary in style during its annual Community BBQ.

Currently, Tait’s enrollment is close to 350 students from 245 families. We represent more than 30 nationalities. There is an active Parent Advisory Council which organizes food days, annual family dances, a variety of fund-raising activities, emergency preparedness projects, and cooperates with the staff to plan a family/staff barbeque held in June and a ‘sweet start’ to the year celebration.

Tait staff includes 14 FTE classroom teachers, 5 support teachers, 4 educational assistants, an area counsellor, a speech and language pathologist, an educational psychologist, a teacher for the hearing impaired, a school nurse, 2 secretaries, 2 custodians, and 2 noon-hour supervisors.

Tait is a fully integrated school with a strong support team for our special needs students. Our band

program (grade 5-7) is strong and healthy, a show choir performs regularily, boys and girls play basketball and volleyball, practice track and field, and learn ways to keep fit. As well, our Student Council is very active. They plan special 'spirit days', are involved in environmental pursuits, raise funds for our outreach programs, provides breakfasts for the students and designs the annual Fit and Fun sports day. Grade 6’s go to Camp, and staff meet regularly in grade groups to plan effective and exciting programs for Tait students.