School District 53 Okanagan Similkameen is a school district that serves fragments of the southern Okanagan and lower Similkameen regions, which include Cawston, Hedley, Keremeos, Okanagan Falls, Oliver, and Osoyoos, totaling to six communities in the district, all of which are in British Columbia, Canada. Its main "maintenance department" office is held in Oliver, consisting of ten schools, five of which are elementary, three are high or secondary schools, while two are alternative schools. This district's superintendent is Beverly Young, while 2,665 students attend schools in it; there are 480 employees for the Okanagan Simlkammen school district. Their motto is "Learning Today for Living Tomorrow", and all places within the district are towns or villages. In addition to the conventional school programs, School District 53 offers three adult learning outlets, an outreach school, three early learning centres, as well as one elementary hockey academy; the district supports Aboriginal people. It provides a school bus transportation service, in order for children to get to their school and home, being responsible to the Director of Facilities. This bus service has been considered for expansion. School District 53 maintains a policy on emergency, which was amended on April 30, 2008. There is also a "smoke-free" policy that was amended on September 26, 2007. Facilities School District 53 Okanagan Similkameen consists of ten schools, five of which are elementary, three are high or secondary schools, while two are alternative schools, within a total of six communities in British Columbia, Canada, in fragments of the southern Okanagan and lower Similkameen regions. The schools of the latter region include Cawston Primary School—held in the town of Cawston—whose principal is Shannon Miller. Cawston School is a Kindergarten to Grade 4 school that is well known for its Weekend Western Day Assembly, held on Victoria Day Weekend and featuring hobby horse barrel racing. The village of Keremeos is home to Similkameen Elementary Secondary School (S.E.S.S.), which holds students from Grades 5 to 12, with the principal being Naren Searcy. Hedley did have a Kindergarten to Grade 4 school of its own until January 2008, when the Okanagan Similkameen district voted four to two to close the school. Linda Thiel was the last principal of Hedley Elementary School and oversaw its closure. In addition to the schools of the lower Similkameen, the southern Okanagan holds seven of the ten schools part of the district, as well as its main