A special meeting will be held next week for the parents of kids going to kindergarten this fall at Myrtle Philip School.
"We are looking at different options for the class," said Principal Ron Albertin.
Parents registering their children for kindergarten were asked at registration if they wanted their kids to go for a half-day of school everyday or full days for part of the week.
There are currently two kindergarten classes, one with 19 kids and one with 18 kids. One teacher will teach both classes.
Traditionally one class has gone in the morning and one in the afternoon, both being taught by the same teacher.
But this year the school board has given the go-ahead for Myrtle Philip to explore some other options.
The meeting will look at those and get parent input on what works best for the majority of parents.
It could be that kids go to school two-and-a-half days each week, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday one week and Tuesday, Thursday the next.
"There have been a number of districts that have gone to the full day and there has been nothing negative come out of the literature around that," said Albertin.
"So from my perspective, from an educational point of view, it looks like there isn’t anything to be concerned about.
"And, from what I understand, most parents want the full day option. In fact I have been told that a number of people have opted for alternate schooling in our community because of the full day option. So I think it is something we should look at and the board has given us the approval to do that."
The issue also came up at this week’s Parent Advisory Council meeting. There was some concern voiced that it would be hard for a child who has never done a full day program to adjust to daylong schooling.
Albertin is urging all the parents of kindergarten aged kids to attend the meeting as their input will help determine how the classes are arranged.
The meeting will be held Wednesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. at the school.
The school board also gave the school the go ahead to consider offering kindergarten full-time, five days a week, if parents pay for the hours outside those normally offered for the curriculum.
At this point the school is not considering this option.
Survey identifies concerns
The top educational concerns of parents at Myrtle Philip school are reading and writing.
That’s according to a PAC survey released this week.
The next biggest concern was math followed by social responsibility.
The results meshed well with the School Planing Council’s goals, which are literacy, writing/technology, and social responsibility, said Cathy Jewett, PAC chair.
The survey also revealed that the participants were interested in parent education about behaviour, study habits, and relationships.
The survey was sent home to all parents in an attempt to find out how to improve attendance at PAC meetings. While always lively and informative only about a dozen parents regularly show up.
Currently the PAC meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month. All parents are welcome.
DPAC discussing technology
The district’s technology plan will be revealed at the next DPAC meeting.
This is one of the crucial steps in accessing the money donated to the school district by the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation for technology.
The meeting will be held April 19 in Whistler at the Myrtle Philip School. All parents are welcome to the meeting, which is attended by a representative of each school as well as district leaders, the chair of the school board and trustees. It will start at 6:30 p.m.
