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What Will Change in the Fall?

June 02, 2017
By Dr. P. Ogborne

The first two blog posts in this series have been setting the stage to introduce you to what will be different in the fall.  The following is a brief glimpse at some of the new initiatives, physical space changes, as well as schedule implications, to name just a few.

To begin with, this year we introduced Google Chromebooks to the current Grade 7 class.  Nextyear we will be providing Chromebooks to all of our students in Grades 6 through 8.  The introduction of the digital platform allows students to receive work and submit their assignments immediately, whether at home or school. As we progress further into our Profound Learning program, students will be able to track their progress and report it to their teachers. Accountability and program awareness are key components of this digital platform. The dog is going to have a hard time eating the student’s homework any more!

As well, we will be adding a class set of Chromebooks, in a rolling cabinet for the portable, for other grades to use.  These devices will join the two other cabinets filled with iPads to increase our use and understanding of technology through all grades.

Secondly, with the discussion focused around the learning environment and the introduction of the laptop program, we will be moving some classrooms around to accommodate the Grade 6, 7 & 8 classes.  As you can well imagine, when you start changing things around, there is a domino effect necessitating subsequent moves.  Stick with me and follow the trail.

With the addition of Chromebooks to the school, there is no longer a need for a dedicated room for computers, so that room will now be home to the Grade 1 class.   Freeing up a room in the portable allows us to move the Arrowsmith class there, and in turn allows the music and art classes to move back behind the stage into the area that was originally designed for that very purpose.

With the move of the music program, the music house will be refurbished and now becomes one of three rooms set apart for Grades 6/7/8 classes. The other two classrooms will be the Science room and a newly renovated Multi-Purpose room, which was the old library area. The Grade 6 classroom in the portable will now be the new home to the Academic Resource Centre. Now if all that detail was hard to follow and you consider yourself a visual learner, click here to see a school blueprint of the classroom locations.

These moves also allow us the opportunity to think of and design new ideas around our learning environments.  In my next blog, “Cave, Café and Campfire (a Strategy of Classroom Change)”, I will talk about the changes happening inside the classrooms.

More changes?  Lets keep going.

Lastly, when students arrive in September, we will be introducing a new balanced day schedule.  School will begin at the same time 8:30 AM and ends at 3:20 PM.

A balanced schedule shifts our day into three equal blocks of 100 minutes. After each block will be a forty minute break for students which combines outside play and a nutrition break.  This repeats itself again later after the second block. More outdoors, more nutrition and after the third block, it’s time to go home. Additional nutrition breaks will be given to students throughout the day at the teacher’s discretion.  Want a visual? Click here.

Is this all? Of course not but it is enough for now.  Stay tuned over the summer, as we send you more information and pictures of the work going on inside of the school.  We will also be providing information on Before & After School Program room changes, and a new traffic flow for student drop-offs and pick-ups will be required due to the new traffic lights and road changes in front of the school.  These are just a few of the various changes and projects going on through the summer and into the new school year.