Earl Grey school provides a number of programs that are unique to this school in this area, as well as a demographic that depends on the type of school Earl Grey is and what it provides. Any risk to changes pose hard challenges that will be difficult for the school's most vulnerable students and families to overcome.
This also shows how Earl Grey is utilizing its space and why some of our important programs require more space than others, which further demonstrates that Earl Grey is far from a half empty school on the wane.
Further outlined here is the fact that Earl Grey is a school that is increasingly in demand. Thirty two students are enrolled for Grade 7 for September 2015! Placing Earl Grey in the current LaVerendrye School site will hinder growth potential for the school, on top of putting programs at risk and the already confirmed termination of growing Jr. High classes if a school swap is approved.
This also shows how Earl Grey is utilizing its space and why some of our important programs require more space than others, which further demonstrates that Earl Grey is far from a half empty school on the wane.
Further outlined here is the fact that Earl Grey is a school that is increasingly in demand. Thirty two students are enrolled for Grade 7 for September 2015! Placing Earl Grey in the current LaVerendrye School site will hinder growth potential for the school, on top of putting programs at risk and the already confirmed termination of growing Jr. High classes if a school swap is approved.
It is not just for our current students that we wish to stop this swap, it is for future students and our community as a whole. If Earl Grey School is growing, how can moving the school to a much smaller location be justified? It would be short sighted and damaging in the long run.
Alternative
Program
·
Grade 1/2/3 class and Grade 4/5/6 class.
·
EG is one of five schools in the entire division
that offers this program.
·
The closest school is Laura Secord, a dual track
school.
·
The Alternative program has been in existence
for approximately 20 years at EG.
·
2011/12 - 45 children, 2014/15 – 48 children.
·
Benefits of having students with the same
teacher for three years.
·
There is significant hands-on learning and this
heightens their engagement.
Catchment -
Regular Elementary Programming
·
Approximately half of Earl Grey students
are from outside the catchment area.
·
The Day care availability has been critical to
our non-catchment students.
Class
Sizes
Earl Grey has already reduced class sizes that are in line with the
provincial guidelines on N-3 class sizes.
·
The elementary program growth calculation:
(2015 population –
2012 population) / 2012 population x 100
= (146-122) /122 x
100 = 19.6% increase over 4 scholastic
years
·
External factors that would prevent class size
growth
o Provincial
class size mandates K-3 cap by 2017
o Budget
cuts limiting the number of teacher hires, thus reducing the number of classes
that can be opened
Demographic
For 2013/2014
o Elementary
§ had
a stability (no. stable students/enrolment) of 93.6%
§ Single
parent families 24.2%
§ Immigrant
or Student Visa 25.1%
§ Other
language (Russian, Tagalog, Iranian, Hebrew, Other) 10.0% (division is 6.6%)
§ Below
Low income cut-off 24.6%
o Junior
High
§ Single parent families 40%
§ Other
language (Spanish, Chinese, Iranian) 16.0%
§ Below Low income cut-off 24.6%
§ Aboriginal Families 19.6%*
Recent
Grants Obtained Through Parents
·
$5000 Asper Foundation for MTYP activities.
·
Sustainable Development grants, for swings for
our playground.
·
$110,000 over three years; Beautification
project for the outdoor classroom and the garden.
·
The
latter two grants are examples of non-transferrable structures
Indigenous
Students and Families
·
Before Building Student Success for Aboriginal
Parents (BSSAP) funding, Indigenous parents were rarely seen in the building.
·
30-35% of our school population would
self-identify as Indigenous*
*Indigenous students may not reside with
Aboriginal Families
·
Results of program
o All students learn about one
another’s cultures.
o Increased
attendance of Indigenous students.
o Indigenous
parents have become increasingly visible and present in our school.
Junior
High
·
We are the only N-8 school in the south district.
·
There is only one other school offering grade
7/8 outside a high school setting in the south district.
·
For 19 years offered an award winning all-girls/all-boys class which will be returning after popular demand.
·
Normally we have 1 or 2 applications for Gr. 7 in
February, but in Feb. 2015 we have 19 applications.
·
Administration is anticipating a 50% increase in
enrolment in junior high despite negatively publicity (32 grade 7's enrolled for next year, 18 grade 8 students).
·
Stereotypically
and incorrectly, a small junior high program has been looked upon as
ineffective or not fiscally responsible.
Catchment for another Junior High for
Comparison
Articles related to Junior High
class Sizes
The biggest and most credible of those studies, Tennessee’s statewide
Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio, or STAR, project, begun in the late 1970s,
found that the learning gains students
made in classes of 13 to 17 students persisted long after the students
moved back into average-size classes (HEROS, 2011).
The application of the research base at the middle school demonstrates
that small class size can drive improvements and need not be expensive if
implemented according to research (end pullout programs, re-assign staff
members, change the structure). Benefits were cognitive (achievement) and
non-cognitive (behavior) and cumulative as demonstrated by the large percentage
of 6th grade students who exited the BSI program by 8th grade,
and by the higher outcomes for the cohort (n = 38) who had small classes for
three full years, when compared to other groupings of students. Class size reduction can have a positive
impact in the middle grades.
Learning
Assistance Centre
·
Earl Grey houses the Learning Assistance Centre
(LAC) which has special facilities for the south end.
·
This would have to be relocated to another
school if a proposed school swap occurs.
·
It is a special Education
program for students aged 6 to graduation who exhibit behaviours characteristic
of very severe emotional disturbance and/or behaviour disorder.
·
The program provides a low enrollment setting, an intensive
staff-student ratio and clinical support.
·
The primary purpose of the LAC program is
to improve the student’s social functioning to enable a return to a regular
instructional setting.
New
Programs Attempts
·
A proposal for Flexible Learning program was
denied and program was placed at Gordon Bell and Grant Park.
·
Dual track was recommended to the consultants in
May 2014 but not followed up on.
·
Request to house Special Gr. 5 French program, a
program proposed by the province, but there was no response.
·
Previous school trustee chair informally
presented the idea of Spanish Bilingual programming to administration of EG on
numerous occasions in 2014 with favourable response from the principal.
·
Trustee Wasyliw at February 4th Earl Grey
Meeting, “I would like to see EG School be one of the places where all day
kindergarten is offered.”
Other
Facts to Consider
School
board chairman and nearby resident Mark Wasyliw said the Winnipeg School
Division wants to create a new public definition of what schools are, by
transforming them into community hubs.
This is, in fact, what Earl Grey School has already achieved.
Facilities Management Process Policy
“Long-Range School
Facility Development – a planning process for formulating and monitoring the
long-range plan for the replacement, addition to or renovation of facilities.
The Chief Superintendent shall be responsible for the development,
implementation, and co-ordination of a comprehensive facility planning
process.”
As a community, we
would be interested in learning more about the long-range plan for the south
district schools, in particular Earl Grey, is and would like to be part of its
development and growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment