New Broad Street Schools: Final Plan

On November 1, 2022, Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) launched a Virtual Town Hall to gather community input about the new schools in a variety of ways. Students, staff, families, SACs and community members within the Charles P. Allen Family of Schools (CPA FOS) were invited to share their thoughts and ideas. To see the original proposals, click here.

What we heard

After reviewing all ideas and feedback we received from the Virtual Town Hall, the following three key themes emerged:

1. Where at all possible, families and students want to attend their neighbourhood school.
    
2. Families want consistency; grade reconfigurations should only be used if they put an end to the changes and moves experienced in the CPA FOS in recent years.
    
3. Families need more information about the idea of choice for high school.

These community-driven themes, the goal of maximizing HRCE facilities usage, and the updated enrolment projections received late in December, were used as our guiding principles.

The plan

Click here for a video about our plan for the new schools on Broad Street.

New boundaries

After careful consideration, including all public consultation feedback, updated enrolment data and CPA FOS school capacity information, we have finalized the boundaries for the new schools on Broad Street.

Click the map to view the updated boundaries.

Reminder: Families in Grades PP-8 who now live within the new boundary for Broad Street, will be transitioning to the new school. For example, if your child is currently in Grade 8 at Rocky Lake Junior High, but lives in the new boundary, they will attend the new school for Grade 9 in September 2023.

Note: the new school will offer French Immersion. Any students who attended a French Immersion program, but now fall within the boundary for the new schools, will be able to continue French Immersion at the new schools.

New grade configurations

We originally thought it would take a few years to transition to final grade configurations. Recognizing that families value consistency, all changes will be in effect for September 2023. Our intention is that these grade configurations should be in effect for the next three years. This is great news in a rapidly changing community.

Click here to view an accessible version of the information in the chart above.

Choice of high school

All Grade 9 students currently attending Rocky Lake Junior High and Madeline Symonds Middle School will get to choose which high school they would like to attend for the 2023-24 school year.

What about Grade 10 students? Yes, Grade 10 students get to choose too! Any Grade 10 student currently attending CPA will also get the choice of continuing at CPA or switching to the new school for the 2023-24 school year.

All Grade 11 students currently attending CPA will continue at CPA for their Grade 12 year.

We know you need more information, and we’ll have more details in the coming weeks. Soon the new high school principal will visit Grades 9 and 10 students to introduce exciting new programming options for high School at Broad Street.

What's next?

The transition begins!

We are currently working to update our data systems with the new boundary information. Given the scope of the new plan, it will take a couple of weeks to finalize.

Registration for families in the Broad Street FOS and CPA FOS begins on March 20, 2023. Our systems are now being updated to reflect the new boundaries. We will share a reminder with all families when it opens. 

Here's what else you can expect:

February: In late February, the principal of the 9-12 school will be visiting current Grade 9 students and families at Madeline Symonds Middle School and Rocky Lake Junior High. They will also visit current Grade 10 students and families at Charles P Allen High. These visits will showcase the new approach of teaching and learning at the high school level. The principal will also visit Grade 8 students at Madeline Symonds Middle School who will be transitioning to regular programming at the new school for their Grade 9 year. 

March: Principals at the new schools on Broad Street will begin transition planning with staff in each school in the Broad Street FOS and CPA FOS to create robust transition plans for students. Families will begin receiving monthly updates from principals. These messages will invite questions from families. Questions will be answered in subsequent messages from principals.

April and May: Families will receive a monthly update from principals.

June: Families will receive bi-weekly updates from principals.

Late August: Families will receive a video tour of the new schools in addition to a welcome message from principals.

Need more information?

Click here to view answers to frequently-asked questions.

Thank you!

Much has changed since the day the new schools on Broad Street were first announced. From a global pandemic to disruptions in building material supply chains to tremendous population growth in the CPA FOS, we’ve worked through many complex challenges. We sincerely appreciate your understanding, your support and most importantly, your contributions to this process. Your thoughts, ideas and feedback during our consultation were invaluable. Thank you for helping to shape our final decisions for the new schools on Broad Street!

We’ve still got lots of work to do before the schools open their doors to welcome children, students, and staff. We look forward to your continued involvement as we begin building a new school identity and planning for the transition. We know that every child’s success depends on a strong and thoughtful transition plan. Your participation in the next part phase of the journey will be just as important!

Thank you, CPA FOS community!

Questions

We know you still have questions... and will have many more in the coming months.

Please reach out to by calling 902-464-2000 or emailing connect@hrce.ca. We will continue to update our webpage as new information becomes available.

Report

Click here to view a detailed report.