New Broad Street Schools: Your Questions

Q. I’m in a new catchment with this new boundary. How do I register for the new school?
A. Registration for families in the CPA FOS begins on March 20. Our systems are now being updated to reflect the new boundaries. We will share a reminder with CPA FOS when it opens.

Q. What do I do if I registered my child for school already and now the new boundary puts us in a different school? Do I need to re-register?
A. If you’ve already registered for another school, there is nothing more to do at this time. If any further steps are required, we’ll let you know the week of March 20.

Q. Can I provide feedback on this final plan?
A. While we appreciate that some may have feedback, this is the final plan, based on what we heard from community and updated enrolment data received in December 2022. If you have questions about the final plan, please contact connect@hrce.ca.

Q. My child attends Grade 8 at Rocky Lake Junior High, but we live in the new boundary. Where will my child go to school for Grade 9?
A. If you live within the new boundary, your child will attend the new school for their Grade 9 year, and receive regular programming. They will then have a choice to remain at the new school, or go to Charles P. Allen High for Grades 10-12.

Q. Why did you change the proposals?
A. We heard from community about what was important and used key themes that emerged during the consultation to finalize the plan.

The proposal was based on last year’s enrolment data and no longer works given the rate of growth in community. We received updated enrolment data in December 2022. This final plan gives us the most consistency and stability for the most students for the greatest amount of time. We asked, you shared, we listened.

Q. You say you are putting students in schools closest to them. Why is child my being sent across town for Grade 6?
A. Where possible, we have kept students in the schools closest to them. However, CPA FOS is a rapidly growing community, and therefore grade reconfigurations were necessary at several schools. We adjusted the boundary to allow for students to attend their neighbourhood schools to the best of our ability, however, to help ease enrolment pressures at neighbouring schools, it is necessary that Rocky Lake Elementary remains open. Many families told us they felt Grade 6 is too young for junior high, so all Grade 6s from Basinview Drive Community School, Bedford South School and Sunnyside Elementary will attend Rocky Lake Elementary. This configuration also keeps a cohort of students together.

Q. Will Kingswood Elementary still need portables?
A. No, all seven portables should be redeployed elsewhere in HRCE to address enrolment pressures.

Q. Why are you relocating Pre-Primary from Bedford South School to Basinview Drive Community School?
A. Bedford South School is currently facing enrolment pressures. Families told us they wanted to go to their neighbourhood school, so there is no change to the boundary. With Grade 5 students returning to the school (previously at Rocky Lake Elementary), there will likely still be a need for additional learning spaces. A grade reconfiguration (including relocating Pre-Primary) will help to ease enrolment pressures and ensure consistency for the most students for the greatest amount of time.

Pre-Primary is an optional program and does not involve all families in an area. It is also important to share that throughout our system, the Pre-Primary program is located in a variety of settings. For example, in this school year alone:

• Rockingham Elementary Pre-Primary students attend the program at Grosvenor-Wentworth Park Elementary.
• Pre-Primary students at Burton Ettinger Elementary attend the program at Fairview Heights Elementary.
• LeMarchant-St. Thomas Elementary Pre-Primary students attend the program at Sir Charles Tupper Elementary.
• Saint Mary’s Elementary Pre-Primary students attend the program at Inglis Street Elementary.

Q. Why would you have Madeline Symonds Middle School students go to Broad Street for one year (Grade 9)?
A. Madeline Symonds Middle School is currently facing enrolment pressures and requires six portable classrooms. A grade reconfiguration will help to ease enrolment pressures and ensure consistency for the most students for the greatest amount of time. This also gives students the unique experience of getting to attend Broad Street for a year, before deciding which high school they would like to go to for Grades 10-12.

Q. When will we have more information about programming at the new high school?
A. We announced our new approach to learning at the new high school on February 28. Click here for more information.

Q. When will we know about student transportation?
A. Every year, transportation details are available to view online through BusPlanner Parent Portal and are typically released mid-July. Families eligible for transportation will receive an email to access the Parent Portal and view their child’s bus information once it is available.

Students must reside within their designated catchment of the school they are attending and meet the minimum distance criteria to be eligible for transportation.

Q. What will be the bell times for the new school?
A. Bell times for the new school have not been finalized. We know families need to plan, and we'll be sure to advise families of bell times once they've been confirmed.

Q. My child attends French Immersion at their current school, but now falls in the boundary of the new school. Will they have French Immersion at the new school?
A. The new school will offer French Immersion. Any students who attended a French Immersion program, but now fall within the boundary for the new school, will be able to continue French Immersion at the new school.

Q. When will I know who my child’s teacher is at the new school?
A. HRCE’s staffing process begins in the spring and is ongoing until September 30. Staffing is connected to enrolment numbers in each school. Principals will be in contact with families before the first day of school.

Q. These are huge changes for students and families in the CPA FOS. How will you ensure that everyone is supported through the transition?
A. We know that the success of each student depends on a strong transition plan. This is the focus of our work from now until the school opens in September. Staff at each of the schools with students transitioning to new locations will begin working to create solid plans in partnership with staff and principals of the new schools. You will receive regular communication from your child’s current principal as these plans unfold. As always, you are encouraged to reach out to your child’s school if you have any questions or concerns, or if your child requires additional support.

Q. Will families be able to tour the school before it opens?
A. There will be an opportunity for families to tour Broad Street in the fall, once the schools settle in. In the meantime, you can expect to receive photos and videos in advance.

Q. Who will be the principals of the new schools?
A. The principals have already been appointed and are actively participating in the design process along with a representative of each School Advisory Council. They are Susan Casey (PP-8) and Sean MacDonald (9-12).

Q. How many teachers will the new schools have?
A. The number of teachers depends on enrolment. All schools will be staffed to ensure compliance with provincial class cap guidelines.

Q. Will the new high school have a football team?
A. Extra-curricular activities depend largely on the interest of students and the availability of volunteers (teachers and others).

Q. Will students currently at Charles P. Allen High be able to graduate from CPA?
A. Yes.

Q. What will be the names of the new schools?
A. It will be up to the community, led by the principals, to decide. In the interim, they are known as the Broad Street schools.

Q. Will schools in the Broad Street FOS and CPA FOS still require portables?
A. Yes, it is anticipated there will still be portables required within the Broad Street FOS and CPA FOS but they will be greatly reduced.

Q. Why weren’t families in Bedford South School advised of the changes to the final plan, before it was published?
A. Our communication remained consistent throughout the consultation. At the beginning of the process, we outlined when we would communicate our final plan and have strived keep that timeline, giving families ample time to submit their thoughts and ideas about our proposed plan. All families in the CPA FOS learned of our approach on February 2, 2023. At that time, we also provided detailed information in our report that was shared with families and on our website.

We also communicated the plan well in advance of when we are typically able to provide updates on school configurations. For example, while we try and give families as much notice as possible, last year Kingswood Elementary families learned that their students would need to attend Rocky Lake Elementary on May 2, 2022.

Q. Why did the original proposal include projects from January 2022, but not the projections from June 2022 as per the Long-Range Outlook (LRO)?
A. Each year, we receive updated enrolment projections in the December-January window. Our planner then reviews the numbers and makes what we call local knowledge adjustments (based on construction and other factors in the city). This data is used for the Long-Range Outlook (LRO) which is updated each spring and posted on our website.

The data cited in our November proposal was based on the same data in the current LRO. The LRO does not include updated projection enrolment figures from June 2022, rather that is when the document is posted online. Based on last year’s projection, we anticipated that we would have more than 57,000 students at the end of September 2023. In fact, we passed the 57,000 student mark in December 2022.

As we highlighted in the consultation process, the updated enrolment data could and did impact our final decision. Furthermore, the revised data showed significant growth in enrolment in the coming years. Something we factored into the final plan.

Q. How was the feedback from the consultation reviewed?
A. The consultation was open to everyone in the community. We proposed a plan and invited feedback. While most thoughts were submitted anonymously through ThoughtExchange, we did ask participants what school they were most connected with. This allowed us to review thoughts in a variety of ways.

The feedback from ThoughtExchange, was also shared with families multiple times throughout the consultation. The ThoughtExchange reports shared top thoughts, participant breakdown by school, and a link to all thoughts collected. After all feedback was collected and reviewed, three themes, cited in our report, were identified. Where possible, we tried to align the final plan with these themes.

Q. How can students at Bedford South School access Early French Immersion?
A. French Immersion is not offered in the same way across the HRCE and never has been. In some places it is available as an Early Immersion program and in others it is a Late Immersion option. In some places, the Immersion program offered is outside the neighborhood where students live. For example, many families in the Sackville area request out-of-area placement at Cavalier Drive School in order to access Early French Immersion.

The option available for students at Bedford South School is to enroll in the Late Immersion program once they reach Rocky Lake Junior High.

Q. What is the projected enrolment data for the new school?
A. We anticipate that the Broad Street School will open with more than 1,000 students (200 more than originally planned) in the PP-8 school. Our projections indicate this will increase over the next decade.

It is important to note that the growth in Bedford is such that additional changes will be necessary, but our goal is to create stability for the next three years.

Q. Who should I contact if I have questions?
A. You can reach out in the following ways:

• Email: connect@hrce.ca
• Phone: 902-464-2000