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It would appear as if most of the students of the Walden area who
are enrolled in the Rainbow District School Board will soon be
experiencing what could be a new organizational model for elementary and
secondary schools in the province.
Board administration has recommended that three elementary schools
in Walden be closed and that students be consolidated into a new, much
larger school for JK to Grade 6 while all of the Grade 7’s and 8’s
would be housed at Lively District Secondary School with the Grade 9 to
12’s.
We are only just
beginning to see the effects of a new trend in school organization in this
part of the province, but it should be clear that what is being proposed
in Walden is inevitable if our school system is going to be in a position
to better prepare young people with the skills necessary to become
successful contributors to society in the future. The model is working
quite well at
Marymount
Academy
and there are already other schools in the area where elementary and
secondary school students share the same building.
The only way schools of
the future are going to be able to adequately fulfill their
responsibilities is by organizing students in a way which is more
conducive to the development of the learning skills necessary for the 21st
century. And when you examine the needs of our children, it makes far more
sense to offer education in two distinct settings.
Children have one set
of needs as they move from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6, and they have a
completely different set of needs as they move from Grade 7 to Grade 12.
Therefore, the sooner we can move all students from Grades 7 to 12 under
one roof, the better. And, unfortunately, that may mean that it is
necessary to close some of the smaller elementary schools and build
larger, more central ones to accommodate the enrolment from JK to Grade 6.
REFLECTION:
First of all, quality of education is directly related to the
competency of the teachers who are actually working with the children. It
doesn’t matter where your son or daughter goes to school. It is the
classroom teacher who is going to make the greatest difference in the
growth of your child.
Larger, newer schools
tend to have the most up-to-date facilities and supplies which assist
teachers in providing for the needs of their students.
The larger the school, the less likely it is that you are going to
have a lot of split grades and the more likely it is that students will be
organized in a way that is more conducive to meeting their individual
needs.
Larger schools provide principals with a wider selection of staff
who may be qualified to provide for the special needs of all students in
all grade levels.
You can therefore do a lot more with your students in a large
school setting. Small schools served their purposes when they were first
built, but times have changed and we must have the resources to prepare
our children for the world of today and tomorrow, not the world we were
accustomed to yesterday.
Secondly, we know that there is going to be a critical need in the
workplace for more graduates with skills in the trades areas and the cost
of outfitting schools to give young people exposure to this training is
enormous. Most secondary schools already have the equipment necessary for
the delivery of these specialized programs.
NEW DIRECTION PROMOTED BY GOVERNMENT
For example, the
Liberal government announced in January 2008 that they are about to spend
$150 million over the next several years to improve education for students
in Grades 4 to 8 by introducing programs such as outdoor education, home
economics and shop. It is easy to implement outdoor education programs at
any level, but when it comes to home economics and shop, the $150 million
won’t even come close to equipping our elementary schools with those
facilities. However, moving Grades 7 and 8 into secondary school buildings
where those shops and home economics facilities already exist makes much
more sense. The province is
also considering starting co-op programs for Grades 7 and 8 so it would
make more sense to move them to secondary schools where those programs are
already in place.
Education Minister
Kathleen Wynne stated “We know that if we're going to be successful in
getting more kids through high school and going on to post-secondary or
into apprenticeships, they must be fully engaged by the time they get into
Grade 9. It's way too late if we wait until Grade 9."
MORE CONDUCIVE TO TRANSITIONS PROGRAM
It is
perfectly clear that the period from Grade 7 through 12 is the time when
one discovers his/her true passion for life and when natural talents and
aptitudes begin to blossom. The more exposure to a wider variety of
options we can provide students from the beginning of Grade 7 right
through to graduation at the end of Grade 12, the better.
This re-organization
would even benefit the “Grade 7, 8, 9 Transitions Program” which is
intended to help students make the transition from elementary to secondary
school.
By gathering everyone
under the same roof during the six years from Grades 7 to 12, we are
better able to offer children a chance to explore the skilled trades, the
arts, information technology and all of the other possible paths they can
follow. We can also offer them a whole new way of learning and get them
involved in positive school based and community based activities that will
prepare them take their place in society. Participation in extracurricular
sports and activities would be encouraged within a secondary school
setting since there are usually so many more things going on at this level
than in the elementary schools.
Critics of the new
school organization model state that they do not like the fact that their
Grade 7 and 8 children may be exposed to the sex, drugs and violence that
is often associated with high schools. However, when you speak to parents
of Kindergarten and Grade one students they are quite happy with the
prospect of removing the Grade 7’s and 8’s from the elementary school
settings because of the negative influence those older children have on
the younger, more impressionable primary grade children.
However, despite all of
our fears and concerns, we must remember that schools are only a “means
to an end” for our children. Students are not going to remain in their
current schools forever and in this day and age it is quite common for
children to be uprooted from their school for other reasons emanating from
changes in the lives of their parents. Seldom will you find a Grade 6
class today where all of the students have been together in the same
school since JK.
Therefore, if schools
are truly a “means to an end”, and if most of the older, smaller
schools were built to accommodate the baby boomers who grew up in a
different era, then consolidating children into larger, better equipped
buildings for JK to Grade 6 and into secondary school buildings for Grade
7 to Grade 12 is something that we simply must consider and move forward
with as soon as possible. The children entering school today have a
completely different set of needs than the children of yesterday.
We are simply going to have to adjust and get used to it. This is
the way it is going to be. Let’s make it work.
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