Our School's Future

A meeting was held last night that was to address the McKenzie Towne School opening. The meeting went from 5 - 6:30 , and even with this awkward time, there will still over 100 attendees. Here is a summary of the learnings:

-McKenzie Towne school is expected to be open for learning in January 2010.

-There will be MT students in Haultain (and Acadia) for the first 4 months of next school year.

-They will only be in grades 2, 3, 4 - there will be no K, grad 5, or grade 6 MT kids at Haultain. There will also be no grade 1 MT kids unless there is an existing attending sibling at the school.

-The MT kids will be in classrooms with only MT kids, there will be no integration with Haultain kids. This will allow for a smooth transition when the MT school opens.

-The MT classrooms will be staffed with MT teachers who will move with the students when their school opens.

-There will be a posting shortly for a principal and assistant-principal to staff MT

-Parents of MT students will have the option to leave their kids at Haultain if ther is room in an existing Haultain class - they will be responsible for their own transportation after MT school opens.

-Haultain will be left with 114-120 students after January (preliminary numbers only)

-There will be a CBE meeting shortly to discuss options surrounding Haultain and what the CBE may do with our school. We will hopefully have some further news about accommodation during our March 18 Council meeting.

-Any decisions that the CBE makes regarding Haultain's future will include parental engagement. (as I said before - community awareness and engagement are considerably important factors in this process, support your school as often and as vocally as you can, this blog is a great record of that support).

This meeting raised a lot of questions as well and I'm sure there are some concerned parents out there. Please use the comments section to bring up any other issues. I would love to hear your perspective of the meeting and any thoughts you have about the process.

Mackenzie Towne parents may provide feedback through an on-line feedback form to the CBE at www.cbe.ab.ca/schools/ceop/feedback.asp or by email at yourvoice@cbe.ab.ca.

A note for McKenzie Towne parents. It would be in your best interest to set up an association/society as soon as possible. I will be happy to help with materials and any guidance I can provide.