Case Study: Wolf Creek Public Schools achieves broader community engagement and student‑driven priorities with Thoughtexchange

Setting priorities and collectively building a plan with Thoughtexchange

Wolf Creek Public Schools, a rural Alberta district spanning nearly 6,000 km², struggled for years to get meaningful input from parents, staff and students while developing a three-year strategic plan. Existing outreach efforts fell short and, amid funding cuts, the Board challenged new superintendent Jayson Lovell to broaden engagement—leading the district to invest in a three‑year partnership with Thoughtexchange to gather community-driven priorities.

Using a broad-based exchange for adults and a Student Voice exchange that engaged 734 students, Thoughtexchange let participants share and rate open-ended feedback, revealing maintaining small class sizes as a top priority and surfacing student program needs. Wolf Creek triangulated those insights with provincial goals to develop targeted strategies, realign resources, create new programming, and strengthen the viability of small rural schools while achieving richer, more representative community input.

Wolf Creek Public Schools

Jayson Lovell

Superintendent