The following letter is being shared with students and families on behalf of Alberta's Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides. 

• Read the English Back to School Letter ↓ (PDF)
• Read the French Back to School Letter ↓ (PDF)

Dear Parents,

Another school year has started and as Alberta’s new Minister of Education, I want to introduce myself and give you a quick update about some of the things your government has been doing to ensure our students are set up for success.

A top priority for my parents was getting me a high-quality education, since I’m a second generation Calgarian. Having immigrated to Calgary in the 1970s their educational opportunities were limited, and they firmly believed that a strong education is the path to greater success and prosperity. I took their advice to heart and went on to earn my PhD in political science and conflict resolution. I’m passionate about education and will work hard to set our students up for success.

As the 2023/24 school year gets underway there are several important highlights I want to share with you.

I firmly believe that the upcoming school year will give students the tools and resources they need to succeed.

Here are some of the things that we are working on:

1. We are injecting new funding to start the school year off on the right foot.
   For the current school year, Alberta’s government has increased funding to many of our school divisions to make sure they have the financial resources they need to give our kids a world-class education. Funding has increased by seven per cent from last year increasing the total amount of taxpayer dollars going directly to our school divisions to $7.4 billion. In addition, a new Classroom Complexity Grant will be implemented which provides $126 million over three years in new funding to help school authorities hire more educational assistants to help our teachers manage classrooms that are increasingly more complex with more students with diverse learning needs. As well, our hardworking teachers will also receive a two per cent salary increase this September as part of a deal reached with teachers last year and finally, we are providing $414 million in new funding, a 32 per cent increase, to help bus another 80,000 students to school.
2.  We are hiring more teachers and staff in our classrooms.
   As students head back to class, they may start to see new friendly faces in their school. Budget 2023 provided funding to hire up to 3,000 new educational staff over three years, including teachers, educational assistants, bus drivers and other school support staff such as speech language pathologists and psychologists. Ensuring students have the supports they need to succeed in and out of the classroom is a top priority of mine.
3. We are focused on improving student mental health.
   Alberta’s government is supporting almost 80 mental health pilot projects across the province, with an investment of $50 million. These projects will encourage student well-being through new and innovative approaches to providing supports and services like counselling, social and emotional learning, student assessment and training for school staff. For more information, please click here.
4. We will continue to lead the country in early literacy and numeracy assessments.
   As a father of two, I want to know how my girls are progressing in their academic journey and I know many of you want the same. In September of 2022, Alberta’s government implemented new mandatory literacy and numeracy screening assessments for all students in Grades 1 – 3. These assessments will help identify students who are struggling with literacy and numeracy skill development and inform teacher intervention lesson plans and techniques to improve student skills. Based on school reporting, these interventions are working. I am very proud of the work that is being done here. Please know Alberta is leading the country with this type of early assessment and screening and will continue to foster new and improved ways to improve the education system. For more information, please click here.

In closing, I want to thank and acknowledge all our hardworking teachers, educational assistants, principals, and other school support staff. The work that you do is deeply acknowledged and appreciated by Alberta’s government and I want to express my personal appreciation for your work. I look forward to serving as our province’s Minister of Education for our great province and am confident we can continue to provide every student with a world-class education.

Best,

Demetrios Nicolaides ECA PhD - Minister of Education