Comments on: Montessori, French Immersion consultation on ‘options’ meaningless

By: Trish Kinsey

Trish Kinsey — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:11:40 +0000

I totally agree with you, Briana. I think the school board is asking us for our opinions so that they can see who would complain the loudest. They should move/change programs of choice and/or boundaries to something that works best for the community in the long run.

By: Briana Tomkinson

Briana Tomkinson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:01:09 +0000

Hey thanks Denise – that's not the impression I had (obviously) but thanks for the correction.

By: Denise

Denise — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:57:02 +0000

I would just like to comment on your statement: "Down the road and still in the West End, Connaught is practically empty."

This is inaccurate. Currently, all six of our classrooms are occupied by students. It is true that once the middle school opens, we will lose one or two classrooms of students but for the time being, we are not "practically empty".

By: Sloane Drennan

Sloane Drennan — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:31:08 +0000

This is a really difficult topic because of course, we are talking about our kids’ futures. And in the end, I think no one is going to be entirely happy with the final product. Which may be the way to go since then not one group will feel as if they have been left out or ignored.

Personally, I feel the entire district needs to be turned upside down and shaken really hard. Not only in regards to the chaos that is the high school but the way schools are distributed as well.

I would love to see magnet schools in New West for the two programs of choice. One school for each French Immersion and Montessori with the ability to house 2 or 3 classes per grade. Most likely for a K-8 schedule after which they would transfer to NWSS. I firmly believe that to foster a true language understanding, you need to be completely immersed in the language at an elementary level.

Personally, I get the impression that in order to satisfy the demand for French Immersion and Montessori in New Westminster, the district has plunked classes down where there was room. As demand increases, this cannot continue. I understand that for those who are attending their local schools, it will be difficult to adjust. But it has to change after being properly thought through. Which means listening to what parents have to say.

Sorry, this ended up being a lot longer than I expected! I think I’ll send it on to the district as well.