By Vincenzo Paolella, Secondary V Student, Laurier Macdonald High School Montreal, April 29, 2024 - The English Montreal School Board hosted its first Canadian Affiliate Bowl of the Future Problem-Solving Program International (FPSPI) on Saturday, April 20 at the LaurenHill Academy Junior Campus in St. Laurent.   Over the past few months, many EMSB students worked tirelessly and diligently as they engaged in the Global Issues Problem Solving (GIPS) enrichment program across various schools.   Throughout their engagement, student participants have actively researched and applied a six-step creative problem-solving process as they resolved Future Problems connected to the topics of tourism, urbanization, and Antarctica. Those who qualified for the Affiliate Bowl developed a plan with creative and viable solutions for a future scene on Autonomous Transportation. Creativity research pioneer, Dr. Ellis Paul Torrance, created future problem solving (FPS) in 1974 to stimulate critical and cre

 By Julian Taylor Every year, all EMSB high schools are invited to take part in “The Battle of the Books” (or “Boob” as it is affectionately known as by its participants); a quiz-show style competition where questions are based upon 12 pre-selected Young Adult novels that teams in each school read over the course of the school year.  BoB allows students to explore a variety of literary genres while simultaneously developing teamwork skills. Launched at the Lester B. Pearson School Board in 2013, the program has grown steadily each year to include an increasing number of schools across the city. At the EMSB, it is an event that is organized by the high school librarians and the Educational Services Department. The past few weeks have seen an exciting conclusion for the 2024 season of Battle of the Books here at the EMSB. From the initial seven participating school teams, the top four scoring teams were James Lyng, Royal West Academy, Rosemount, and Vincent Massey Collegiate. They  compe

Montréal, April  18,  2024 - The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) is very pleased with a Québec Superior Court decision that provides a partial stay of provisions of Bill 96 and the Charter of the French Language. This ruling also benefits other English language boards and the Quebec English School Boards Association. EMSB Chair Joe Ortona notes that the  Superior Court stayed parts of the law that would require English school boards to communicate exclusively in French when writing with key institutions of the English-speaking community, such as the Quebec English School Boards Association or the English Parents’ Committee Association of Quebec.  The EMSB had challenged the application of amendments to the Charter of the French Language adopted in 2002 that the government only brought into force in June 2023, without any consultation of the English-language community. “This is a significant win, of which the EMSB should be proud,” said Mr. Ortona. “While we offer rich programming

Joe Ortona is interviewed about the Bill 21 appeal Montreal, April 10, 2024 – The English Montreal School Board intends to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to hear an appeal in the case of Bill 21, An Act respecting the laicity of the State. On April 10 the Council of Commissioners voted to mandate the law firm, Power Law, to file on its behalf an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and, if granted, an appeal of the Québec Court of Appeal’s judgment of February 29, 2024 on Bill 21.  The EMSB is challenging provisions of Bill 21 on the basis that they violate minority language education rights under Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as gender equality, protected under Section 28 of the Charter. Previously, the EMSB had successfully argued before the Québec Superior Court that Bill 21 violated the section 23 right to management and control, by preventing English-language school boards from hiring teachers wearing religious symbo