The St. Clair Catholic District School Board will have a new director of education in the new year.
Deb Crawford is replacing the retiring Dan Parr starting January 1.
Crawford says two of her top priorities are to continue implementing the board's strategic plan and to prepare students for post-secondary education and the working world.
"Looking at building faith in our community and focusing on educational achievements in innovation and education. We're really trying to stress the development of 21st century global competencies," says Crawford.
Crawford has been superintendent of education with the Catholic board since 2008.
Crawford says one of the challenges this school year is to ensure the smooth transition of students going to new schools in north and south Chatham.
"We have a very collaborative history here and working with our parish and parent partners, I think we're going to work very hard to make sure this is a very smooth and beneficial transition for all of our staff and students and all our families," Crawford says.
Crawford likes that the province is overhauling the school curriculum over the next three to five years and says it's always nice to refresh education from time to time.
"They're focusing on global competencies and looking at skills development for creativity and critical thinking, problem solving and global citizenship skills. Those skills are very important as our kids move forward in the 21st century," says Crawford.