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Rhys Fisher, 5, says his mommy bought him the snazzy bow tie that was part of his back-to-school ensemble. “It came with this, too,” he explained, snapping the suspenders holding up his new jeans.
“I got new pencil crayons, a new eraser, and a sharpener,” said his sister Riley, 8. They were among 280 public school students in north Kanata who arrived for the first day of classes Tuesday to confront another brand new item: the school itself.
At Kanata Highlands PS on Terry Fox Drive, construction crews are still transforming an expanse of dirt into turf for a soccer field. The gym also won’t be finished for another month or so.
Students at the new Kanata Highlands Public School enjoy recess on the first day of school.
That’s no problem, says principal Pauline McKenna cheerfully. The kids can play outside for phys-ed. She’s excited about her “forest school,” surrounded on all sides by trees, including the Trillium Woods. “Isn’t it awesome?” she says, pointing out a dirt pathway leading to a planned outdoor classroom in the trees at the edge of the schoolyard.
Teachers plan to make nature and outdoor education an important part of the curriculum, says McKenna. “I’m hoping for deer. I’m going to throw a few apples out!”
Pauline McKenna, principal at Kanata Highlands Public School, play a game in the hallway with kids to help them get acquainted with each other.
Kanata Highlands is one of three new elementary schools the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board opens this month. All are in fast-growing suburbs. Summerside Public School is on Portobello Drive in Orleans and Half Moon Bay PS is near the Jock River on River Run Avenue in Barrhaven. The English Catholic board also opened a new school in Half Moon Bay, St. Benedict on River Mist Road.
Kanata Highlands PS reflects trends at the board and in education. The school offers only French immersion, an increasingly popular program choice among Ottawa parents. All the students are bused, but in the next few years they will also be drawn from nearby housing developments under construction. At capacity, the school will have room for about 630 children.
There is a play structure for kindergarten kids, but for older students McKenna says the school will probably build a more natural play space, perhaps using rocks and boulders. Traditional playgrounds are often closed all winter, which isn’t ideal, she said.
The school has wide hallways that double as places for students to gather for various activities. There’s a gender-neutral washroom for transgender kids. In a Grade 4 classroom, Kaylee Rhodes perches on a stool at a desk that can be raised or lowered, so she can also stand. “It’s nice,” she says. In another room, “jive” stools close to the ground allow energetic kids to bounce and twist around.
Students at the brand new Kanata Highlands PS, including Kaylee Rhodes, foreground, get down to work after recess on the first day of school Tuesday.
A new school also presents a chance to create a culture from scratch, says McKenna. Staff and students will pick school colours, a mascot, a song. The school motto is “be open, be curious, be kind.”
A few miles away in west Ottawa, there was a similar buzz of excitement as students returned to class at Regina Street PS. It’s a small neighbourhood school that is adjacent to Mud Creek, which is also used as an outdoor education area.
Six-year-old Ryan Aikin was all ready for his first day of Grade 1 at Regina Street Public School Tuesday.
But there was also an undercurrent of worry as parents face the prospect that the low-enrolment English-program school might not survive. It’s one of eight schools staff have recommended be closed. The board is struggling with a mismatch between where buildings are located and where schools are needed.
Parents at Regina St. plan to show up at a board meeting Wednesday for the first debate over the “accommodation review” of schools in west Ottawa that will result in schools being closed and programming changed.
“I’m hoping we can make a really good case to keep our school open,” said parent Melanie Good, whose son Ryan Aikin is in Grade 1.
查看原文...
“I got new pencil crayons, a new eraser, and a sharpener,” said his sister Riley, 8. They were among 280 public school students in north Kanata who arrived for the first day of classes Tuesday to confront another brand new item: the school itself.
At Kanata Highlands PS on Terry Fox Drive, construction crews are still transforming an expanse of dirt into turf for a soccer field. The gym also won’t be finished for another month or so.
Students at the new Kanata Highlands Public School enjoy recess on the first day of school.
That’s no problem, says principal Pauline McKenna cheerfully. The kids can play outside for phys-ed. She’s excited about her “forest school,” surrounded on all sides by trees, including the Trillium Woods. “Isn’t it awesome?” she says, pointing out a dirt pathway leading to a planned outdoor classroom in the trees at the edge of the schoolyard.
Teachers plan to make nature and outdoor education an important part of the curriculum, says McKenna. “I’m hoping for deer. I’m going to throw a few apples out!”
Pauline McKenna, principal at Kanata Highlands Public School, play a game in the hallway with kids to help them get acquainted with each other.
Kanata Highlands is one of three new elementary schools the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board opens this month. All are in fast-growing suburbs. Summerside Public School is on Portobello Drive in Orleans and Half Moon Bay PS is near the Jock River on River Run Avenue in Barrhaven. The English Catholic board also opened a new school in Half Moon Bay, St. Benedict on River Mist Road.
Kanata Highlands PS reflects trends at the board and in education. The school offers only French immersion, an increasingly popular program choice among Ottawa parents. All the students are bused, but in the next few years they will also be drawn from nearby housing developments under construction. At capacity, the school will have room for about 630 children.
There is a play structure for kindergarten kids, but for older students McKenna says the school will probably build a more natural play space, perhaps using rocks and boulders. Traditional playgrounds are often closed all winter, which isn’t ideal, she said.
The school has wide hallways that double as places for students to gather for various activities. There’s a gender-neutral washroom for transgender kids. In a Grade 4 classroom, Kaylee Rhodes perches on a stool at a desk that can be raised or lowered, so she can also stand. “It’s nice,” she says. In another room, “jive” stools close to the ground allow energetic kids to bounce and twist around.
Students at the brand new Kanata Highlands PS, including Kaylee Rhodes, foreground, get down to work after recess on the first day of school Tuesday.
A new school also presents a chance to create a culture from scratch, says McKenna. Staff and students will pick school colours, a mascot, a song. The school motto is “be open, be curious, be kind.”
A few miles away in west Ottawa, there was a similar buzz of excitement as students returned to class at Regina Street PS. It’s a small neighbourhood school that is adjacent to Mud Creek, which is also used as an outdoor education area.
Six-year-old Ryan Aikin was all ready for his first day of Grade 1 at Regina Street Public School Tuesday.
But there was also an undercurrent of worry as parents face the prospect that the low-enrolment English-program school might not survive. It’s one of eight schools staff have recommended be closed. The board is struggling with a mismatch between where buildings are located and where schools are needed.
Parents at Regina St. plan to show up at a board meeting Wednesday for the first debate over the “accommodation review” of schools in west Ottawa that will result in schools being closed and programming changed.
“I’m hoping we can make a really good case to keep our school open,” said parent Melanie Good, whose son Ryan Aikin is in Grade 1.
查看原文...
