Connaught and McKitrick schools to be reconfigured for new school year

“We understand that change can sometimes be met with uncertainty, but we are confident that this new model will greatly benefit our students,” the division said.

The school division held an in-person meeting for parents Tuesday evening at McKitrick School to discuss the changes.

One reason for the shift is that the division wants to ensure that more Grade 3 kids are reading at the grade 3 level reading standards . The hope is that students will have better outcomes with the new reconfiguration of the two schools.

Christine Gibson, Superintendent of Learning, the lead on the project, said that Early Learning has a role to play in the decision.

“We’ve had a goal for a very long time to ensure that when our students leave Grade 3 that they are reading at grade level,” she told battlefordsNOW. “For the last while, quite a while, we have about a third of our students who are leaving Grade 3 [who are] not reading at grade level. So, when I talk about enhancing our services to students, I think that’s one of the things we looked at really closely was that ability to have some flexible groupings to tailor our instruction to those students of that grade level, to make our teachers specialists around those [factors], specifically reading. So, that did play into it, and looking at really tailoring our instruction and increasing the capacity of our teachers to deliver the instruction that students need.”

Gibson noted there are many pluses by reconfiguring the two schools.

“We’re always looking at ways to be innovative and this is one of those things we thought might be able to improve our service delivery to students,” she said. “We’re looking at it through multiple lenses: The ease of collaboration for teachers: When you have multiple classrooms that are the same grade you can lean on others for that co-planning and
co-teaching, and problem-solving. The flexibility of students to be able to move from one group to another and get that instruction just at the right time where they need it. [Also,] professional development is super exciting when you’re looking at this model because you can tailor your professional development into a much more narrow age-range to make it more meaningful.”

As well, Gibson said that field trips, presentations, and extra curricular activities will all be “much more tailored to a smaller age range.”

Board chair Ronna Pethick said the division believes that it’s going to be ideal for the students to have those groupings of pre-kindergarten to Grade 3 in one school and grades 4 to 6 in the other, so that kids will be within their same age groups, and have appropriate courses and education targeted for kids at those age groups.

“We’re hoping that it will be good for kids, and successful for kids because that’s our rationale,” she said.

On parents’ concerns about transportation that were expressed at a meeting held this week, the division noted that bussing will be available between schools to make it easier to get kids to their school on time.

Pethick noted that Connaught school is actually more conducive for younger children since it’s all on one floor. The washroom facilities are also more age appropriate for younger kids. On the other hand, McKitrick will serve the older students better, since it offers a larger gym that’s ideal for kids of these ages.

“It just seems like the right fit for both those schools in those age groups,” she said.

“We’re hoping that it’s the best for kids because that’s why we would be doing it for those kids, for our students’ success and achievement,” Pethick added of the changes.

She noted that if anyone has any further questions, they are invited to contact the division.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Angela Brown

Connaught and McKitrick schools to be reconfigured for new school year

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