On May 28th, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board hosted a meeting at Millbrook South Cavan Public School (MSC) to discuss two grade structure models for the new school to be built in the Highlands subdivision as well as boundary adjustments that it will trigger. There were almost as many board staff and administrators on hand as parents. Roughly thirty parents attended, eight of them from the North Cavan School, which is only affected by potential boundary changes.
Comments about the lack of attendance from MSC parents indicated that some did not bother to come as they felt their input would not have any impact as the grade structure decision had already been made. North Cavan parents did not seem to share the same attitude about their influence, having seen their arguments to keep their students at Crestwood in the previous school boundary review succeed. Other comments indicated that more parents would have come had child supervision been provided, allowing them to participate without the distraction of their children.
There are two grade models under consideration for the Millbrook elementary schools: two Kindergarten to G8 schools or a Cohort model in which one school building house Kindergarten to G3 students and the second one occupied by G4 to G8.
The fi rst option would effectively divide the school community into two parallel schools. Based on the summaries of the considerations of each model, this seems to be the option preferred by the School board.
One of the arguments presented which favours the two K to 8 option is that the board has already received approval from the Ministry of Education for this version, and indicate that changing the format to the cohort model would introduce delays. Mayor Graham spoke at the meeting, countering that argument. He indicated that direct conversations with Ministry staff indicated that any delays from this change would be inconsequential as the Ministry was already aware of this possibility.
This cohort model is not new to the community. Mayor Graham explained that during his elementary school years the JK to Grade 3 were housed in what is now the municipal office while grades 4 to eight attended “down the hill” at the current MSC school. His experience with the transition in grade 4to the senior school within the village helped prepare him for his next transition to Crestwood Secondary School. He expressed the view that this consistent school experience for all public school youngsters in the area helped create a strong, unified student body, an attitude which naturally filtered into the community as a whole.
Much of the discussion about the models centre on logistics. Both schools will offer daycare services, but they will be provided by different entities. The new school’s day care will be supplied by the YMCA while the existing provider at MSC is Compass Early Learning. Both locations will also offer before and after school programs. This potentially complicates drop-off, but given busses in the cohort model will travel to both schools, this could be addressed through a bus buddy system relying on senior students supporting younger ones travelling between schools for before and after school programing as required.
In outlining the principles guiding their decisions, the board explains that they seek to provide high quality learning for all students; develop long-term sustainable plans that balance student numbers among schools; maintain walkable routes to school; and streamline transportation services.
The new school will accommodate 481 elementary students and have a four-room child care centre with 73 licensed spaces. MSC’s official capacity is 447students and it now has almost 600. The school is still projected to be open in the fall of 2027, but this date is likely to change based on the current status of the project. By 2032, Board projections indicate that combined school population will already push the combined capacity limits of both schools.
The board is seeking feed-back on the proposed boundary concepts and the school model options. For more information and to submit feedback, visit www.kprschools.ca/newMillbrookschool. The final recommendation regarding the structure and boundaries will be presented to the KPR Board of Trustees in the fall.