School District 79 Cowichan Valley


School District 79 Cowichan Valley is a school district located in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It consists of numerous elementary, middle, secondary, and alternative schools for programs like adult education.
The Cowichan Valley School District serves the communities of Duncan, Cowichan Bay, Chemainus, Cobble Hill, Crofton, Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay, Maple Bay, and Lake Cowichan.
The current superintendent of the Cowichan Valley School District is Tim Davie, who previously served as the superintendent for the Pacific Rim School District.

History

The current School District 79 was formed in 1996 when School District 65 was combined with School District 66.
A French Immersion program was established in October 1997, for the 1998–1999 school year.
On July 1, 2012, after refusing to send a balanced budget to the Ministry of Education in British Columbia by June 30, the elected Board of Trustees was dismissed. Michael McKay was instated and balanced the budget.
Reconfiguration of the Cowichan Valley School District began in 2013–2014 school year. This marks the change from a middle school model to an elementary school system from kindergarten–grade 7 and a secondary school system from grades 8–12.

Superintendents

This is a list of the superintendents of SD79 since amalgamation with SD65 and SD66 in 1996. Superintendents in this list that don't have references included, were provided by the SD79 Board Office via email.
NameTenureNotesRef.
Geoff Johnson1996–2000Former superintendent of SD65 from 1993 to 1996
Andy Selder2000Served as acting superintendent
Brian Hoole2000–2005
Peter Porte2005–2006
Betty Milne2006–2007Served as acting superintendent in 2007
Dan Boudreau2008–2011
Joe Rhodes2011–2015
Rod Allen2015–2019
Robyn Gray2019–2024
Jeff Rowan2024–2025Served as interim superintendent; Currently assistant superintendent
Tim Davie2025–presentFormer superintendent of Pacific Rim

Schools

SchoolLocationGradesPrincipal
École Mount Prevost Elementary SchoolDuncanK–7Sandra Buckland
Alex Aitken Elementary SchoolDuncanK–7Updesh Cheema
Alexander Elementary SchoolDuncanK–7Darren Hart
Bench Elementary SchoolCowichan BayK–7Mike Martin
Chemainus Community SchoolChemainusK–7Ixchel Bradley
École Cobble Hill Elementary SchoolCobble HillK–7Ian Zibin
Crofton Elementary SchoolCroftonK–6Jennifer Merrett
Discovery Elementary SchoolShawnigan LakeK–7Dani Morrow
Drinkwater Elementary SchoolDuncanK–7Kyla Bridge
Khowhemun Elementary SchoolDuncanK–7Brenda Stevenson
George Bonner Elementary SchoolMill Bay1–7Jennifer Calverley
Maple Bay Elementary SchoolMaple BayK–7Nicole Davey
Palsson Elementary SchoolLake CowichanK–5Fiona Somerville
Mill Bay Nature SchoolMill BayK–3Alison Leslie
Tansor Elementary SchoolDuncanK–7Brent Ranger
Thetis Island Elementary SchoolChemainusK–7Ixchel Bradley
Chemainus Secondary SchoolChemainus7–12Colleen Mullin
Quw'utsun Secondary SchoolDuncan10–12Scott Jackson
Frances Kelsey Secondary SchoolMill Bay8–12Kevin van der Linden
Lake Cowichan SchoolLake Cowichan4–12Jennie Hittinger
Quamichan SchoolDuncan8–9Claire Whitney