Kootenay Lake

District Overview

Academic Success   ◊   Creativity and Imagination   ◊   Citizenship   ◊   Resiliency

We focus on excellence for all learners in a nurturing environment. Our strong professional development program enables us to achieve this goal, with its focus on literacy, exemplary teaching strategies, assessment of and for learning, and numeracy development. Our Director of Student Achievement has provided workshops and coursework for teachers and administrators throughout the province.

Regional Diversity

About 450 of our students have self-identified as First Nations learners. The Lower Kootenay Band is located just south of Creston. A strong Russian community exists in the Slocan Valley, and the Russian language is taught at the elementary and secondary levels.

Kootenay Lake school district encompasses the communities of: Ainsworth, Argenta, Balfour, Blewett, Boswell, Canyon, Crawford Bay, Crescent Valley, Creston, Erickson, Harrop, Johnson’s Landing, Kaslo, Kitchener, Kootenay Bay, Meadow Creek, Nelson, Procter, Riondel, Salmo, Slocan, Slocan Park, South Slocan, Taghum, Winlaw, Wynndel, Yahk, and Ymir.

Specialty Programs

The Valhalla Wilderness Program and Adventure-Tourism Leadership and Safety Program take advantage of our wilderness and mountains. Dance and hockey academies attract students from across BC, and our student-led social justice programs are exemplary. More than 100 students from Korea, Mexico and Brazil participate in our international program.

Community Culture

Commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainable development characterizes our interactions with one another and our environment. Our towns and cities are noticeably different with their lack of strip malls and highway development and their valuing of heritage buildings. Many buildings in Nelson’s core date from the early 1900s.

Draw for Employees

Teachers are attracted to be part of a high-performing organization ranking high in all measures of student achievement. Many people come to the district for an active outdoor lifestyle: the skiing, fishing, kayaking and mountain trekking in this area are without equal. Nelson, with its 350 preserved heritage buildings, is recognized as a vibrant cultural centre with a thriving arts community.

Salary and Benefits

Teachers typically receive a comprehensive benefits package including:

• medical, dental, and extended health plans;
• group life insurance benefits;
• teachers’ pension;
• extended health benefits for dependents of deceased employees;
• accidental disability insurance;
• salary indemnity plan benefit;
• supplemental employment benefits on maternity leave;
• employee and family assistance programs.

Allowances

Teachers in positions with special responsibilities, e.g. department heads, teacher consultants, teacher coordinators, counsellors, psychologists, alternate school teachers, speech pathologists, may receive a financial allowance of $2,000-$4,000 annually.

Teachers working in remote and rural schools may also receive a recruitment allowance, and an annual retention allowance. Learn more about teacher salaries with the Salary Finder tool.

For specific details about each district’s compensation, salary, and benefits, please refer to Kootenay Lake’s collective agreement.