The Winnipeg School Division is facing backlash over plans to relocate its holistic education program for pregnant teenagers and young moms.
Starting in September, the Adolescent Parent Centre — an off-campus program that’s been housed at 136 Cecil St. since 1989 — will operate inside a North End high school.
“One of the big reasons I wanted to go is because I knew I’d be in a school surrounded by a bunch of people who were in the exact same situation as me,” said Billie Pryor, a 2023 graduate who enrolled when she, then 14, was pregnant with the first of her three children.
Pryor, 20, said the student population, free on-site daycare rooms and distance from traditional high schools, where gossip is commonplace and physical fights break out, were part of its appeal.
Now a proud graduate, she is among the community members who worry incoming changes will negatively affect attendance.
Multiple insiders told the Free Press they are disappointed staff and students were not consulted before the decision was made to move the program to Children of the Earth High School, located at 100 Salter St., in the fall.
The current site of the Adolescent Parent Centre, formerly known as Cecil Rhodes School No. 1, is slated to undergo a rebrand and host adult learning centres.
“It would be very easy for the program to get lost in another school. Suddenly, there will be a whole lot of other forces,” said Eleanor McMillan, a retired teacher who was instrumental in founding the centre and now oversees a non-profit dedicated to supporting young parents.
The school division funds the program, but her team raises money for field trips, bursaries and other special initiatives.
While noting she’s been told the relocation is meant to give pregnant teens and young parents access to more courses and other resources, McMillan said she isn’t confident it is the right decision.
Senior administration indicated the centre’s name, model and staffing levels will remain unchanged. Renovations are scheduled at the new site in anticipation of an influx of students and infants.
Superintendent Matt Henderson said the transition aims to reduce barriers for student-parents because the centre will be in a more central location.
Henderson noted internal area code data suggests few registrants live near the current Weston site while “a significant amount” of them live in and around the North End.
“We want to make sure that all of our children and students are in spaces where there’s elders, where there’s lodge rooms, where there’s cultural teachings and Children of the Earth is just a brilliant spot for that,” he said.
The superintendent added it’s also part of a bigger plan to better facilitate student mobility and collaboration between four inner-city high schools: Argyle Alternative; R.B. Russell Vocational; Children of the Earth; and the Adolescent Parent Centre.
Julie Gunderson said soon-to-be graduates feel a mix of relief and worry about what’s next for their younger peers.
Even though her commute requires she travel across the city on public transit with her toddler in tow, the mature student described the centre as “perfect,” as is.
Gunderson, 22, said she feels safe, comfortable and welcome inside the building where she’s met many like-minded moms. There’s an unspoken understanding in the hallways, she said.
“We’re all trying to make a better life for ourselves and our kids,” Gunderson said, adding she’s all but certain there will be “drama” between typical teenagers and young parents next year.
Between 15 to 20 students, roughly one-third of all registrants, show up on a regular weekday. Free breakfast and lunch are staples of the program as well as Women’s Hospital outreach visits.
“Some of our girls haven’t been in school for a long time and when they were in school, it wasn’t a great experience,” said one employee who agreed to an interview on the condition of anonymity.
They said staff members — who have been explicitly told not to speak about the transition — are worried it will take even longer for these students to get comfortable and adjust in the new setting, if they attend at all.
Pryor said she has fond memories of socializing with other young parents at “the beautiful park,” which is equipped with a playground, behind the centre.
The mother of three said she hopes the division will reconsider the move. If that’s not possible, she said it’s important parents continue to be able to study at their own pace and be allowed to visit their children at any point.
