​ Leadership Letter of Intent

Please complete the responses to the questions below.

Name:​​ ​Heather MacDonell I would like to be considered for October

Level of Readiness:
Briefly, ​(250 words or less)​ tell us why you are ready to apply for this leadership position and how you
have prepared for this role ​(provide specific experience)​.
I am a goal-oriented, lifelong, and reflective learner ready to use my experience and skills in a new
leadership capacity. I have prepared for this role by consistently seeking leadership in Catholic
education as the English Department Head and as a former English/Religion/Arts Curriculum Leader. In
these roles, I have improved the instructional program (Digital Learning, Indigenous Voice, course
consistency, Deep Learning, Literacy, Teacher Moderation, Teaching Teams and Pathways). I engage
in setting direction and securing accountability as a member of board committees (Level 4 Inquiry) and
as a member of the School Improvement Plan team, collecting data (OSSLT, indicator reports) and
implementing these goals within the school. I have been acting Vice-Principal at both St. Joseph and
Holy Trinity High Schools. My strengths are building relationships, developing people, and using my
problem solving and conflict management skills. The Leadership Journey and my Guidance Specialist
gave me the tools to be an effective communicator, as this is paramount for developing the
organization to support desired practices (Associate Teacher, Parent-Teacher Interview workshops,
Curriculum Night, staff meetings, Open House). I am a highly organized person who has increased
cross-curricular literacy as both Department Head and Literacy Committee member; I plan assemblies
(Remembrance Day, OSAID); offer engaging student learning opportunities (New York City, Orange
Shirt Day, Stratford, Chess Club, University tours); and I present new concepts to fellow Department
Heads at our CLF. I look forward to the opportunity to apply my experience and skillset to the role of
Vice-Principal.

Catholic Education Philosophy:

Briefly, ​(200 words or less)​ please share your Catholic leadership philosophy.
I believe that Catholic education depends on leaders devoted to the development of the whole child
through the Catholic Graduate Expectations. It is a place where education is not limited to academics;
rather, it is a holistic and inclusive education that ensures every student may lead a full life through the
development of each Global Competency. It is led by people devoted to fostering a community of
believers who communicate, think, learn, work, volunteer, and engage the world through the teachings
of Jesus Christ. A leader in Catholic education also nurtures and maximizes the collaboration between
the triad of home, parish, and school. They ensure the ​leadership model within a school consists of
wellness, setting goals, focusing on growing success, 21​st​ century learning, and creating collaborative,
safe, and supportive professional learning communities all founded in Gospel values. Finally, Catholic
education f​osters a sense of community through shared prayer and support between staff and
students. It is an inclusive community that seeks justice opportunities both locally and globally. My
Religious Education qualifications and Liturgy Committee member experience enable me to understand
how to embed the Gospel values into the curriculum and school culture.
 ​ Leadership Letter of Intent
Please complete the responses to the questions below.
Major Board Initiatives:
Identify, ​(250 words or less)​ three major initiatives that the Board has engaged in over the past 2 years.
Describe the role you have played in advancing these initiatives at your school.
1. ​Deep Learning-​ ​The Learning Environment.​ As the Head of the English department, I have
introduced the importance of a student-centred interactive environment. Consequently, English classes
now have flexible seating to help foster differentiated instruction to better promote effective
communicators and critical thinking skills. I designed department lesson plans for learning
environments with non-permanent vertical learning spaces, encouraging collaboration and creativity to
maximize student learning.

2. ​Leveraging Digital for Literacy Learning​ (LDLL) initiative. I am part of a school-based leadership
team that work together to help build capacity around the use of technology as a tool to improve literacy
for all students. Since Holy Trinity is the new dedicated west end ESL school, our focus is to implement
strategies that support our new learners with technology, in addition to supporting students with special
education needs. I train teachers in my department how to use Google Read and Write, MyBluePrint,
Hapara, and Flipgrid to increase literacy, with a focus on Grade 9 at-risk students.

3. ​Be Innovative.​ For the last two years, I have been a member of a committee that implemented how
to triangulate assessment using conversations, observations, and products to support the reliability and
validity of collected evidence. Our team traveled to the EOSDN Thinking Symposium conference in
Kingston where I learned how to teach staff to effectively apply these strategies. I also applied to and
was granted ​Innovative Learning Funds to reconstruct our English Rich Summative Tasks. Now
progressive and digital, student learning is more meaningful and dynamic.