Grade 9 shifting from John Stubbs to Belmont in September
A West Shore baby boom has prompted the Sooke School District to make room for a wave of young kids at John Stubbs Memorial school.
The district is shifting Grade 9 from John Stubbs to Belmont secondary starting next September, and is opening a French immersion stream at Millstream elementary.
The move will clear space at the dual elementary and middle school in Colwood, which along with Lakewood and Happy Valley schools, is facing overcrowding pressure due to a high birthrate on the West Shore.
John Stubbs currently hosts six kindergarten classes but only has need for three Grade 9 classes. District officials say over the next five years, that skewed demographic bulge wonB次元官网网址檛 change.
B次元官网网址淚f you look at the preschool aged kids over the next five years, the numbers are significant,B次元官网网址� said Jim Cambridge, superintendent for SD 62. B次元官网网址淭he school will be overcapacity very quickly. The way to accommodate that is to move Grade 9s. It takes the pressure off.B次元官网网址�
SD 62 officials became aware of the baby boom over Christmas while updating enrollment projections surrounding the planning for two new West Shore high schools.
In 2010, West Shore municipalities which feed into SD 62 had 600 births. In 2011 that jumped to 800.
B次元官网网址淲e said B次元官网网址榳ow thatB次元官网网址檚 a big jump,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Cambridge said. B次元官网网址淲e knew we had a lot of K kids, but weB次元官网网址檝e got a lot more young kids than expected. Now weB次元官网网址檝e got to make space.B次元官网网址�
The district added 27 classrooms through additions to four schools and installed modular classrooms at six schools last year, but with full-day Kindergarten and plenty of tots in pipeline, classroom space remains at a premium.
John Stubbs principal Garry Manhas said the number of K classes this year is about double from 2010 B次元官网网址� 98 tots entered K in 2011 versus about 60 the year before.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a considerable jump,B次元官网网址� Manhas said. B次元官网网址淎nd demographics for the district indicate it will continue.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淎ll the elementary classes are being used,B次元官网网址� he added, B次元官网网址渆ven after the addition was put on.B次元官网网址�
Opening a French immersion stream at Millstream school in north Langford should also take some pressure off John Stubbs, the primary French immersion school for elementary and middle grades.
In September, Millstream will offer a K French immersion class, and will add a new grade each year until Grade 5. The popularity of French immersion has doubled in the past few years B次元官网网址� 10 per cent of SD 62 kids are in that program.
In September, Belmont will add 75 to 80 students from John Stubbs, which who take up about three classrooms of space. The high school has about 1,400 students this year.
Principal Carl Repp said Belmont is happy to welcome Grade 9 students and has the room to fit them in. The school received two portable classrooms last year and isnB次元官网网址檛 at capacity, he said.
B次元官网网址淲e have the room. Adding 80 students wonB次元官网网址檛 affect us much,B次元官网网址� Repp said. B次元官网网址淕rowth has dramatically increased primarily in the younger grades. We can take the hit at the secondary level. We are the last to burst at the seams.B次元官网网址�
With shifting one Grade 9 class to Belmont, the district is one step closer to reconfiguring itB次元官网网址檚 grade structure to match the rest of Greater Victoria: high school from Grade 9 to 12, middle from grades 6 to 8 and elementary K to Grade 5.
Repp said the current Belmont school wonB次元官网网址檛 get a full cohort of Grade 9s B次元官网网址� that will come when the two new schools are built.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 important to be aligned with the rest of southern Vancouver Island, for programs like band and athletics,B次元官网网址� Repp said. B次元官网网址淭his has been on the books for a long time.B次元官网网址�
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
