Parents attending an information meeting about Grade 7s moving to the North Battleford Comprehensive High School in 2015 were told their children would have a home room and a home room teacher, unlike the Grade 8s and 9s, who have "home room" groups.
"The home room concept with Ggrade 7 is going to be more of a pure home room," said Principal Lyndon Heinemann Tuesday in the cafetorium of NBCHS. "In Grade 8 and Grade 9 the concept we've worked with since the Grade 9s came in 2000, was a 'home room' group, not a physical location."
They move from classroom to classroom throughout the day, but as a group.
With the Grade 7s coming in, the school is looking at a home room group and a home room location for that grade, said Heinemann.
"They would be in one location, with one teacher, for probably half of their day," said the principal. "That teacher would have that Grade 7 group for math and English, and science and social studies."
"We think with that age group there needs to be a far stronger connection to one teacher than the Grade 8s and 9s need."
To help make the transition from elementary school, Heinemann said they want it to be similar to the elementary school experience.
"At the same time," he said, "because of the structure of our building, they do have to leave that sanctuary of a home room location to go for phys. ed., and to go for PAA [practical applied arts] and to go for fine arts. They have to go to other parts of the building to do that."
In terms of sports, everything will be open to the Grade 7s, just as it is for the Grade 8s and 9s. At that age, sports is a developmental issue, Heinemann said, and as long as there are enough staff or community volunteers they will field enough teams to meet student interest.
Vice-principal Daryle Wing said the Grade 8s and 9s are not in a home room location primarily because high school teachers are intended to be specialists; using a home room group helps make the transition from the home room of elementary schools to the high school experience.
He said the Grade 8s have adjusted well. In fact, he said, they have added a new vitality to the school.
In particular, it was said, they have laid claim to the cafeteria, which is busy again now that there are younger, non-driving students in the school.
The process of meetings for parents of students who will be going into Grade 7 in 2015, along with NBCHS staff visits to the elementary classes to provide more information to students and to facilitate the registration process will be doubled up in the coming year, said vice-principal Bruce Friesen, as will the class tours of the school. They will be addressing the fact that both Grade 5 and 6 classes in the Battlefords will be moved to NBCHS the following year.
Parents at the meeting included those who wanted to know why their students were being moved to the high school, rather than building a new junior high school or making use of space in St. Vital School, the only elementary public school that isn't overcrowded.
Living Sky School Board of Education chair Ken Arsenault said, while St. Vital may not be overcrowded according to Ministry of Education standards, it holds a unique place in the division because it is a Catholic school under the auspices of a Catholic Advisory Committee.
He said Living Sky will be meeting with the committee, which includes Father Greg Elder of St. Vital Parish. To have St. Vital students move to the Comp for one year before continuing their Catholic education by moving to John Paul II Collegiate, which is an 8-12 school, doesn't make sense to us as a board, said Arsenault.
"We want to try to treat all the schools the same, but having a Catholic school in the public division is a unique situation."
As far as building a new school is concerned, said Arsenault, the Ministry of Education has made it clear there is no money for a new school unless it is a joint public-Catholic use facility, and only then if the public school system had run out of space.
He said the overcrowded elementary schools don't even qualify, according to ministry standards at least, for portable classrooms. The division would wish for even less stringent qualifications, but if they can't get portables, they certainly aren't going to get a new middle years school, Arsenault indicated.
The Ministry's position was that as long as there was space at NBCHS, there would be no new school. Even the gym being built for the junior students has to be within the existing footprint of the school or no funds will be available for maintenance and operation.
"The decision is really made for us," said Arsenault. "This is the building that has space. There is no new facility coming."
Even once the Grade 7s are moved, the elementary schools will still be crowded beyond the board's standards.
He added that looking moving the students it gives them more opportunity in the fine arts and practical applied arts that aren't available in the elementary schools.
Director of Education Randy Fox said, "Moving the Grade 7s, as hard as it is is really the only thing we can do to accommodate the students in our elementary schools."
He described the crowding as unhealthy for the students.
"The difficulty is to feel comfortable with a big change, and this is a big change, but we have to do something."
Fox said there are other 7-12 schools operating in our system, and added his own son went to a 7-12 comprehensive high school.
"He had a good experience, good teachers, good administrators," he said. "People cared, people knew there were Grade 7s there and that somebody better pay attention to them."
He expects good experiences at NBCHS as well.
"The board and people like myself fully expect the same thing is going to happen here."
He added, "We have to be careful when we talk about Grade 11 and 12 like they are adults. They are older students, but they are kids and they need to be looked after just as much, and the staff knows that."
Fox said it's not going to be perfect
"It's not perfect now," he said. "We have Grade 7 students now who run into trouble in the elementary schools for various reasons. We have to do our part to minimize that and help them work through those things, and the same thing has to happen here."
Fox asked parents to help make the transition to NBCHS a positive experience.
"Although you may not be comfortable with it, we need you to try and help them see it as a positive opportunity. That's part of what kids need when going into new situations - the support of mom and dad."
He assured parents their concerns would still be heard.
"You can have your concerns and you're certainly welcome to express them to me and to the board, but I hope you will support your children as much as you can when that day comes."
Chair Says Safety First
The students who will be going into Grade 7 in 2015 as the first class of Grade 7s to attend the North Battleford Comprehensive High School will not be "lumped in" with the rest of the student body, according to comments made at a meeting Tuesday for parents and their kids who are due to make the move.
The number of Grade 7s who will enroll at NBCHS could number between 180 and 200, however only about 60 people, some of them the students in question, attended the information meeting intended to smooth the transition from their present elementary schools to the larger, more populated facility.
Concerns from the parents centred largely around safety for their children, who will be the youngest and smallest in the school.
The Living Sky School Board of Education chair assured parents the board doesn't expect the safety of any student at NBCHS to be any different than in any elementary school.
"That's the task we charge the director with, and he's the board's employee," said Ken Arsenault. "And he charges that to the administration and the staff of the schools. That's an expectation throughout the school division, whether it's an elementary school, K-12 school or this school, which will be a 7-12 school, the safety for every student would be the same no matter where they are."
Arsenault also said to those parents who had concerns about the possibility of their children being bullied, "We do understand bullying and it's being addressed in several different ways, from programs and by staff and students as well are addressing it, so along with the co-operation of the parents any situations that arise will be handled."
The board chair said, "I can give you that guarantee."
Arsenault said the division and its staff are open to suggestions from parents and to hear their concerns, that they will be listened to when making plans around security, staffing and the transition into the high school.
"We really want the students to feel comfortable in this school, and I have a great deal of confidence in the [school] administration and staff and the central office staff to make that happen," said Arsenault.
He added, "If at any point in time you have questions, don't hesitate to contact central office or the school communication is going to be very important to make this work, and that's what we want to do, is to make this work for everyone so it's a benefit, not a detriment."
Arsenault said if security seems inadequate to parents, it will be looked at, whether it means more staff, scheduling changes, "whatever it takes to make everyone comfortable."
"Are we going to guarantee your children will never get a scrape or a bruise? No. Do we want them to be as safe as humanly possible? Absolutely," said Arsenault, "and that's what everyone works for."
He also said that while, as one parent suggested, there would be times when an older student picks on a younger one, there will be another older student who will put a stop to it.
"I hope so," said the parent.
"There will be," Arsenault stressed.
