Manitoba School Leadership Framework
Stories of Practice
Strengthening PLCs to Build Capacity in Literacy, Numeracy, and Wellness
This story of practice focuses on strengthening the use of professional learning communities (PLCs) to build staff capacity in the school’s focus areas of numeracy, literacy, and mental health and wellness. While the school already had dedicated PLC time, the school leader aimed to enhance teacher learning and instructional effectiveness by improving PLC processes. The goal was to build staff capacity and, in turn, improve student learning and overall well-being.
Setting the Context
The school leader in this story of practice is a Middle Years vice-principal at a large northern Nursery to Grade 12 school. The school serves over 1,400 students and employs just over 90 full-time staff. It also functions as a hub where families can access essential information and resources to support their child’s educational journey.
The school has a dedicated student support team that includes both internal school supports and external community services, recognizing that the school is part of a broader community of care for students. The Middle Years student support team consists of four counsellors, two resource teachers, one student services consultant, and a mental wellness worker. The school has built a strong partnership with a local doctor who facilitates a wellness clinic on-site twice a month. In addition, the doctor visits the school three more times each month to run ADHD and teen clinics, offering care to students and families who prefer accessing services at school rather than at the community clinic. The school also has a nurse and a dental therapist on site.
Beyond in-school supports, the school has strengthened partnerships with organizations such as the Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Centre, Rural and Northern Telehealth, Jordan’s Principle resources, Child and Family Services, and the RCMP. These partnerships have helped students access a wide range of service providers. The Chief and council of a local First Nations community are also valuable partners, actively involved in school committees and operations. The collaboration among the student support team, the local doctor, Elders, and local leadership continues to provide meaningful support to both students and staff at all levels.
Story of Practice – Pre-conditions
The effectiveness of the practice was supported by several existing conditions that enabled its successful implementation. The school has instructional coaches who support staff in the areas of literacy and numeracy. These coaches work alongside classroom teachers, provide professional learning opportunities, and collaborate with individual staff members or teaching teams to strengthen instructional practices. In addition to the coaches, the school also has access to a reading support teacher and a numeracy support teacher.
Professional learning communities (PLCs) are built into the school schedule, with two 40-minute blocks in an eight-day cycle—one focused on literacy and the other on numeracy. During these times, students are with itinerant teachers, and no additional preparation is required from classroom teachers. These PLCs, grounded by the work of education consultants and authors Douglas Reeves and Richard and Rebecca DuFour, were designed to foster collaborative learning in the school’s key focus areas: literacy, numeracy, and mental health and wellness.
Story of Practice – Leadership Actions, Purpose, and Outcomes
To support the teaching and learning cycle through the effective use of PLCs, the school leader aimed to strengthen specific PLC processes such as setting targets, record keeping, and following up on action items. These leadership actions were designed to build teachers’ instructional strategies in the school’s focus areas.
One of the first leadership actions was setting a personal goal to create a safe and caring culture. To build a sense of safety for both staff and students, the school leader made a consistent effort to be present throughout the school day. They regularly performed morning, lunch hour, and after-school duties to increase their visibility and availability. The school leader encouraged open conversations and welcomed staff to share their thinking. They also visited classrooms informally—not for evaluation purposes, but to connect with students and teachers. These visits were followed by casual conversations during duty time to highlight positive observations. Over time, this consistent presence helped build trust, making staff feel more comfortable sharing their experiences and asking questions. It also gave the school leader a deeper understanding of classroom instruction and how coaching practices were evolving. Students noticed the leader’s visibility, reinforcing the message that they were cared for and supported.
The school leader also personally attended PLC sessions to model that leaders are learners too. While they actively participated, they intentionally did not lead the sessions. This approach helped build trust, distribute leadership, and foster a sense of ownership among staff. Timetabling of the PLCs ensured that teachers had dedicated time to engage in meaningful discussions while other staff covered their classes. This structure allowed teachers to focus on improving their instruction through collaborative inquiry. The school leader found that staff often raised questions that mirrored their own, which inspired their own professional growth. Distributing leadership in this way empowered staff to develop new skills and take initiative.
To further support instructional growth, the school leader scheduled instructional coaches to work directly in classrooms. Every teacher, regardless of experience, had access to co-teaching support. Coaches were also required to attend PLCs to provide guidance and build relationships with staff. This normalized the presence of coaches in classrooms, built trust, and allowed for job-embedded support during the teaching and learning cycle. Coaches’ regular participation in PLCs ensured that staff received immediate support as they planned and discussed strategies to meet student needs. The school leader believes this contributed to noticeable improvements in student achievement in mathematics and English language arts.
In addition, two teachers with expertise in literacy and numeracy for Grades 5 to 8 were added to the staffing complement to supplement the work of the coaches. These teachers were given time in the schedule to provide one-on-one support and small-group instruction to collaborate with classroom teachers, sharing resources and developing strategies for meeting grade-level targets. As a result, teachers felt more comfortable asking for support, and collegial relationships were strengthened. This action also helped build staff capacity in literacy and numeracy.
Finally, the school leader focused on building capacity in using monitoring and reporting tools. They presented data during PLC and team meetings to help inform instructional practices and monitor student progress in the focus areas. These data reviews led to revealing and meaningful conversations about the supports needed across literacy, numeracy, and wellness. Staff reported measurable growth in student learning and became more observant and diligent in identifying student strengths and challenges.
Lessons Learned
Over the year, the school leader felt they had grown tremendously, both personally and professionally. They believe that leadership is complex, multifaceted, non-linear, and beautiful, because it looks different for everyone. The school leader maintained that success depends on the collective efforts of all; thus, facilitating and advocating for strong partnerships and building capacity within the team was essential to the success of the PLCs.
The school leader believes that leadership requires patience, intention, trust, visibility, consistency, leading by example, and the vulnerability to learn alongside colleagues and students. They did their best to embody these qualities in their leadership. They also believe that self-regulation and having healthy tools to manage stress are critical, as the role of school leader can be demanding. Accessing the Employee Assistance Program and prioritizing their own wellness, while being open and vocal about it with staff and students, had a significant impact on creating and sustaining a safe, caring environment where people felt comfortable asking for what they needed. Despite the challenges, the school leader believes the work is deeply rewarding and offers a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the growth of self, others, and the broader school community.
