Greater Victoria public schools thread

So as many as 20 parents are camping out at South Park school last night, and they will again tonight, to get their kids into Coastal Kindergarten.

Honestly, is this the best way to accept enrolment in this program, having people camp for two days?

I'm not necessarily a big fan of lotteries, but in this case, wouldn't that be a better idea?

Or at the very least, can't someone from the school go to the campers today, sort them out how they are in line, and then assign them numbers to come back Monday morning at registration time?

I mean, here's an innovative new program that's wildly popular, but their first assignment, the enrolment process, shows absolutely no innovation.

Well to be fair it is for certain programs. Most schools you just walk in and do it. 

Well to be fair it is for certain programs. Most schools you just walk in and do it. 

Why a two-night camp-out in January?  Doesn't that strike you as stupid?

Because everyone wants to get into the Southpark program. Personally I would pay someone to hold my place for me. It is a limited resource so people line-up for it. Like Black Friday in the states.

Because everyone wants to get into the Southpark program. Personally I would pay someone to hold my place for me. It is a limited resource so people line-up for it. Like Black Friday in the states.

It's a government program, run poorly.  In every possible respect, isn't a lottery more fair to all parents, and frankly more humane than people camping on a concrete floor in January?  It almost feels like a bad episode of Survivor.

Right, you'd pay someone to stand in line, but God forbid if this program actually asked parents for $200 for enrolment, then the program would have an extra $4000 to use.

But even if you accept that this idea of camping is a good one, why can't they go sort out the parents today, because by all accounts there are enough there now to take all the spots.  Spare them another night.  What good comes from having them sleep over another night?

Yes, the retail sector figured this problem out long ago. But maybe the school board secretly likes the absurd camping because it gets people riled up, creates a media spectacle and might possibly lead the government to open up funding for more spaces. Just a thought.

In other news, legendary school fee battler John Young died at 92.

The one-time principal, businessman, Second World War bombardier and advisor to former headhunters in Borneo spent a lifetime advancing legal arguments that were ultimately successful in banning fees for B.C. public school course materials in 2006.

“I took the position that you cannot deny a child an education on that kind of basis,” Young said in a 2011 interview with The News.

Remarkably, Young sat as a Greater Victoria school trustee for nearly 20 years, retiring in 2011 at 90 years old. Even then, he continued to mount a legal challenge against every school board in Canada to ensure fees were explicitly outlawed in public primary and secondary schools.

 

http://www.vicnews.c.../240556671.html

Young also attracted headlines earlier in his life when he was the founding principal at Campbell River Senior Secondary. He was there from 1965 to 1972, ending his tenure when he was fired by the education minister for disobeying the School Act by hiring a First Nations woman without the necessary qualifications.

He said he made the move so that First Nations students would have a role model at the school.

 

- See more at: http://www.timescolo...h.zaPTh1Ok.dpuf

With all due respect to the late Mr. John Young, he was not a very effective trustee in his later years and unnecessarily ruffled a lot of feathers. At least that was the sentiment expressed to me by other trustees who were frustrated that he kept getting voted in largely due to name recognition.

As for the campers, I agree with VHF. What in the world is going on when parents have to camp out to enroll their kid in a program? Run a lottery or assign numbers, for God's sake.

This year, Sooke School District has three pink schools and five orange schools, placing all of them in the bottom half of results across the province. The district’s top performer is Hans Helgesen with a 5.8. Its bottom performer is Colwood with a 3.0.

Saanich School District fared better with four orange and four yellow schools. Cordova Bay has the top score with a 7.3, while Kelset sits at the bottom with a 5.2.

With 34 of Greater Victoria’s 50 elementary schools, the Greater Victoria School District captured both the region’s highest and lowest scores. In total, SD61 has four pink, 13 orange, nine yellow and eight green schools. The top ranking school is Selkirk Montessori with a near-perfect 9.9. Oaklands and South Park are tied for the district’s lowest scores with 2.7 each.

Across Greater Victoria, all eight of the green scores are for private schools. The only private school to not receive a green score is Pacific Christian, which just missed the mark with a 7.5.

https://www.vicnews....ed-report-card/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 November 2020 - 11:14 AM.

Cheryl Costigan, who also teaches high school math in Thornhill, said her students are "cheating a lot more than they ever have in the past."

"It's just a free-for-all. Everybody's cheating all the time," she said.

"The very first test that we had, you could hear the cameras clicking," she said. "So they then smartened up and turned off the clicking sound, but you could still tell that the tests were all a group effort."

She, too, has noticed students using Photomath. But it's not just that. She's realized she can't use questions from old math textbooks on tests, because the answers are just a Google search away.

Costigan said she feels for the students, who are facing an unprecedented amount of stress.

The changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic are one aspect, she said, but the weight of parents' expectations can be equally impactful.

"Their parents are putting stress that they want to get into university," she said. "So they kind of feel like they've got to get that mark, and they really don't care about the cheating anymore. It's just become second nature."

https://www.timescol...-say-1.24260270

 

....Their parents are putting stress that they want [their children] to get into university...

This is hardly new. Parents have encouraged this for their children for several generations now.

...I think teaching team work (such as them all working on the test together) is a much more valuable use of time...

As long as it's followed by a few verses of Kumbaya.

Tests are dumb and the only reason they're used is so there's an easy way to give a grade.

I got As in math all through highschool, if you give me a test I did in grade 12 I doubt I'd pass it.

How often in most jobs do you even have to immediately pull up knowledge (that isn't something part of your regular work) without being able to ask someone or look it up? If anything I think teaching team work (such as them all working on the test together) is a much more valuable use of time.

some of what you say has merit.  

this is actually private school news.

https://www.vicnews....tudent-housing/

After 99 years in businesses the Oak Bay Guest House on Newport Avenue is closing shop.

Last month Glenlyon Norfolk School (GNS) announced it is taking over the building. The school released plans on its website to lease the building and “accommodate a family-style, home-away-from-home for approximately 24 students between the ages of 13 to 18.”

Two staff house parents and their families will reside full time in the home with the youth and be responsible for student oversight and care.

__________________________________

GNS remains committed to acting as a day school with a small boarding component, said the release.

GNS currently has 35 international students and this will bump it to 60.

“While the majority of our students are likely to be international, we also hope to attract students from B.C. and Canada who would love to have the GNS experience but live beyond practical commuting distance,” said the release.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 March 2021 - 01:33 PM.

Thank you for the heads-up, Kapten!

Christ Church Cathedral School in expansion mode with proposal for new classroom building

https://victoria.cit...sroom-building/

Not Vic, but Island related anyhow:

Lettington has been previously disciplined by the district for other reasons.

On March 2, 2009, Lettington was suspended for 20 days due to “inappropriate interactions and communications with students.”

On June 27, 2016, the teacher was suspended for five days without pay and was told to avoid any “grooming” behaviour.

He was also told not to contact students electronically, other than his District email account and was not to speak with students under any aliases.

The District also informed him that he was not to take any photos of students and was prohibited from participating in any school clubs, teams or any other extra-curricular activities.

On October 3, 2017, Lettington admitted to making inappropriate comments to students and engaging in “non-sexual boundary violations.”

Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique set to acquire 7.3 acres of Lansdowne lands for future new school

https://www.sd61.bc....ture-new-schoo/

The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CSF) and Greater Victoria School District No. 61 are pursuing the transfer of 7.3 acres of land on Lansdowne Middle School’s 25 acre site.

 

The sale of the property is pending public consultation by the Greater Victoria School District.  If approved, the CSF intends to use the land for a permanent location for l’École Beausoleil.

 

For the past six years, the CSF has leased and operated l’École Beausoleil at the former Sundance Elementary location from the Greater Victoria School District. The lease ended in June 2020 and CSF was granted an extension to June 2021 by School District No. 61. The building will be reopened in September 2021 as a Greater Victoria School District elementary school to meet the school district’s growing need.

 

In 2018, Greater Victoria School District underwent a boundary review due to increasing enrolment and space pressures in some of its schools. A result of the review was the school district had to re-align school boundaries and find additional space to accommodate current and future catchment students in the communities of Victoria and Oak Bay. It was determined that the Sundance School building was required for Greater Victoria School District enrolment.

 

The CSF and the Ministry of Education are committed to finding a short-term solution for l’École Beausoleil students, families and staff while work on a permanent solution is underway.

 

The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique is a public school district with more than 6,400 students and 45 schools across the province, offering a curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12.

 

The Greater Victoria School District will commence public consultation on the land sale at a future date.

 

Lansdowne is a big chunk of property. I wonder where it would make sense to construct a new building. There will need to be at least one access point from either Lansdowne or Richmond roads. Maybe along the west side, accessed from Lansdowne Rd, to maximize the retained green space in the middle.

Edited by grantpalin, 26 April 2021 - 11:05 AM.

^It doesn't look that big until you see the size of the softball diamonds.

25-acres!

Don't forget this was once an air field.

More info and image: https://www.sd61.bc....e-school-lands/