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K-Grade 8 a good start for school

Okotoks area parents with children attending elementary and junior high schools with the public system have a better idea of what the future holds for them in the fall of 2019.

Okotoks area parents with children attending elementary and junior high schools with the public system have a better idea of what the future holds for them in the fall of 2019. At least as to whether they will have to send their child to the new K to Grade 8 Meadow Ridge School scheduled to open in September. Foothills School Division trustees’ decision earlier this month to make the new school K to Grade 8 is somewhat atypical, usually it’s K to Grade 7, adding a grade until getting to Grade 9. Or else going heck-bent-for-leather and going K to Grade 9 right from the get go. Meadow Ridge will be a full-scale junior high school in 2020. It’s a move that make sense for staffing and most importantly students. Those students currently in Grade 8 at Okotoks area junior high schools won’t have to make that adjustment with new kids and new surroundings in their Grade 9 year. The less disruptions the better for students at an age that can be tough emotionally with students’ with varying maturity levels. As well it is an important year as they prepare for the difficult grind of the more independent, academic demands of high school. The K to Grade 8 format will also enable the school to run fuller programs in the arts, shops and other extra-curricular programs, which are so vital to the school community. It’s a configuration that has run with some success in the past. Both Foothills division’s Cayley and Blackie schools have gone to Grade 8 for years, and both have proven to have viable programs at those first two years of junior high despite the small size of their communities. Okotoks parents are still able to give their feedback on both the grade configuration and boundaries. However, things are off to a good start at the new school with a different look at configuring things.  




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