Kindergarten programs undergo change

Aiming to maximize class time and make schooling more efficient overall, the Rainy River District School Board last week announced the Junior and Senior Kindergarten programs will see a few changes for the 2000-01 school year.
The major change for JK students in Fort Frances is that they will attend their neighbourhood school instead of all going to Sixth Street School in the north end.
“We’ve been toying with the idea of having JK go to their neighbourhood school so the young children could be in the same school with their older siblings,” noted Betty Ann LaRocque, assistant superintendent with the local public school board.
She also said this change meant more comfort and convenience for JK students.
“As far as principals getting to know the children, parent to teacher meetings, and so on, there is a definite benefit,” said LaRocque, adding many students won’t have to change schools after their first year either.
Door-to-door bus service for JKs will continue as it does now–students will be picked at their homes and then returned there at the end of the school day.
Meanwhile, SK students in Fort Frances will see a full day of instruction starting in 2000-01 after the decision was made to bus them with all other students at their particular school.
“We actually started looking at making a full day of SK a while ago,” said LaRocque.
“Right now, we have SK students leaving schools up to 50 minutes earlier than the other grades,” she noted. “They were losing up to 50 minutes of class time per day because buses are making two trips to the schools.”
Now, town SK students will be in line with those in rural schools, such as Donald Young in Emo, and get out of class at 3:20 p.m.
“The decision there is really all about providing the most instructional time as possible,” reasoned LaRocque.
She stressed the decisions were strictly about maximizing class time and making life easier for students–and not about cutting busing costs.
“I talked to transportation officer Susan Drew, and we went over the implications, but these decisions stemmed from other things,” she said.
Such factors included consultations with school principals in November, as well as surveys sent home with JK students that overwhelmingly showed parents preferred the changes that have been made.
But some things will remain the same come September. For instance, both JK and SK will continue to be offered on a full day/alternate day basis.