Principals at Charlottetown elementary schools pleased with rezoning decision
The principals at two Charlottetown schools are responding to the Public Schools Branch decision to rezone some Spring Park Elementary School students and relocate them to West Royalty Elementary School starting next school year.
The decision comes after months of public meetings with school staff and parents, stemming from a review of six Charlottetown schools.
Students in the English programs at Spring Park living in the Orchard Hill and Lewis Point Park neighbourhoods will be rezoned to West Royalty. The Public Schools Branch said this process will happen in phases over the next five years, beginning with children in kindergarten to Grade 2 — which will be about 60 students.
Spring Park has had issues with overcrowding for the last few years. It has a functional capacity of about 500 students and is currently about 50 students over that mark.
The school's principal Terry MacIsaac said he's glad the board has come to a decision, and happy that students and staff will see changes as early as the next school year.
"I know it's one that they took their time and they studied and they looked at different options for us to get back down to really a functional number of students, functional enrolment here at Spring Park," MacIsaac said.
Room for specialized programming
Spring Park is equipped with 24 classrooms, but the school has 29 homeroom classes. MacIsaac said some classes are using breakout rooms, which are normally used for educational specialists
"We'll be able to gain back some of those other areas that students can work in in small groups or teachers can work in, or some of our specialists can work in," MacIsaac said. "It's important for them to have a space to be able to work with with their students as well."
MacIsaac said the school will work to identify the students affected by the rezoning and notify parents. He said school counsellors and staff will be available to meet with students who have any concerns about the transition.
"We don't want them to think they're being kicked out of our school," he said. "So we'll make sure they understand we're sad to see them go but this is a decision that has to be made based on the populations of the different schools."
West Royalty ready for new students
West Royalty has a functional capacity of 495 students and the school's principal Marilyn MacLean said it currently has about 450 students.
"We're very pleased with the decision, I think it may balance the student population out at Spring Park and West Royalty Elementary," MacLean said.
MacLean said the school is putting together a planning committee to prepare staff and parents with the information they need before school starts next fall. She said West Royalty has gone through a rezoning before and she feels well prepared to manage the transition ahead.
"We'll form a transition team and we'll look at all the things we looked at in the last rezoning," she said. "We'll look at doing open houses and welcoming the students and families into our schools as best as we can."
The Public Schools Branch said West Royalty has also been approved for the addition of 10 new classrooms over the next few years.
At Spring Park, MacIsaac said though he's sad to see students leave, the rezoning will allow the school to better meet the needs of students.
"They all become part of our family," he said. "It's something that basically has to happen in order to make sure the programming is able to be done that needs to be done and we have the space to be able to do that."
The Public Schools Branch said Spring Park students in Grades 3 to 6 may choose to continue at Spring Park or transfer to West Royalty. If rezoning will split up siblings, parents can request a transfer to West Royalty as long as that student is in the English program.
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