Visions for Learning
Local parents who want a voice in the future direction of the New Westminster school district’s schools and programs can have input via an online survey.
The district is calling on parents to give feedback by filling out the Visions for Learning Survey on the PlaceSpeak website.
The survey includes six questions to help guide school officials in setting program and funding priorities for the 2016/17 school year. Visit sd40.bc.ca for more information.
Two extra days off
New Westminster students will have two extra days off school this year as teachers wrap their heads around the province’s new curriculum. At the request of the education ministry, the district consulted with the New Westminster Teachers’ Association and decided on two extra non-instructional days: Monday, Feb. 22 and Friday, April 22.
Local teachers and staff will use those days to familiarize themselves with the redesigned curriculum, which will be fully implemented in all schools in fall, 2016. The entire B.C. kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum will be phased in by the 2017 to 2018 school year.
Programs of choice registration
The deadline for submitting applications to get kids into the New Westminster school district’s programs of choice is fast approaching. Online applications for French immersion and Montessori opened on Jan. 18 and will close at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12.
A randomized draw or lottery will be used to fill remaining spots in the programs, once priority has been given – in descending order – to kids registered under the old first-come, first-serve application process, students with siblings in the programs, those who live in the program-of-choice catchment area, New West residents and those who submitted applications in time. Visit sd40.bc.ca for more information.
