Boundary reviews wrap up in Centre Wellington and Guelph/Eramosa
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 30, 2013
GUELPH, Ontario – Boundary reviews of elementary school attendance areas in Centre Wellington and Guelph/Eramosa townships have concluded. At the regular board meeting on January 28 trustees voted to approve Scenario 9 – Modified in the James McQueen PS Boundary Review, and Scenario 2 in the New Rockwood Elementary School Boundary Review.
The boundary reviews were the last two in a series conducted across the district in response to the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) Capital Plan. The board is constructing four new schools with planned openings in September 2014 – two in Guelph, one in Rockwood and one in Orangeville.
In the James McQueen PS Boundary Review trustees turned down the staff preferred scenario, opting instead to support Scenario 9 – Modified, an alternative that was brought forward by the boundary review committee in response to public input.
The following changes to James McQueen PS take effect in September 2014:
- The school will have a Primary program only, with JK-Grade 3 Regular Track (RT) and JK- Grade 2 FI
- RT students will go to John Black PS for Grades 4 to 8
- FI students will go to J.D. Hogarth for Grades 3 to 8
Grade 7 RT students from the James McQueen PS attendance area who currently attend JD Hogarth PS will remain there (grandparented) to complete grade 8 in 2014-2015.
Motions passed by the board also directed staff to:
- consider an accommodation review for elementary students in Centre Wellington (RT and FI) as part of an upcoming district-wide Long-Term Accommodation Plan (LTAP)
- consider the consolidation of FI students in Centre Wellington at one school during the LTAP process
In Rockwood the board is building a new 308-pupil place elementary school, and also starting a French Immersion program. Newly approved boundaries take effect September 2014:
- the new Rockwood elementary school will be JK-5 RT and JK-5 FI
- Rockwood Centennial PS will be JK-8 Regular Track (RT) and Grade 6-8 FI
The boundary review was completed in time for the beginning of the board’s annual staffing process, in which classrooms and teachers assignments are made for the coming year. Grades at the new school in the first year will be JK-4 RT and JK-1 FI.
The implementation plan includes the grandparenting of Grade 5 RT students in September 2014 at Rockwood Centennial PS.
Although there is a new map for Grade 6-8 FI at Rockwood Centennial, the first FI students will not arrive until the 2020-21 school year.
Students were registered in the Rockwood FI program in early October, but new kindergarten registrations in both RT and FI (and optionally Grade 1 FI in Rockwood only) are welcome during the board’s Kindergarten Registration Week February 3-7.
The $6.3 million new school construction project in Rockwood has a target completion date of September 2014, but the Board has acknowledged it will be difficult to achieve this goal due to a late start and severe winter weather. If the school isn’t ready for the planned opening, a contingency plan will have students temporarily located at Rockwood Centennial PS, using some rooms inside the school building as well as additional portables.
A name for the new Rockwood school will be recommended by a committee that includes trustee Kathryn Cooper and the school’s new principal, Carrie Conrad.
Boundary review web pages
New Rockwood Elementary School Boundary Review
James McQueen PS Boundary Review
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For more information:
Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer
519-822-4420 ext. 725
[email protected]
Mark Weidmark, Administrative Officer – Communications
519-822-4420 ext. 544
[email protected]
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