Aboriginal Focus School

The Aboriginal Focus School (AFS) project was a collaborative research effort between the SISC Lab and our community partner, Vonnie Hutchingson. In this report we summarize our research on community members’ perceptions of the Aboriginal Focus School, a new elementary school program run by the Vancouver School Board (VSB) for students in Kindergarten to Grade Five. To conduct this research effectively and respectfully, our collaboration combined the expertise of Michael T. Schmitt (Professor, SFU) and Scott Neufeld (MA Candidate, SFU) in social science research, with Vonnie Hutchingson’s (First principal of the AFS) expertise in Aboriginal education and experience as a member of the Haida and Tsimshian First Nations communities.