by PAUL RAYNER

Enrollment concerns are not dead at Boissevain School, although there are some encouraging facts coming into the 2009/10 school year.

The academic session begins on Tuesday, September 8, with a bigger number in the earliest year than many previous years. According to Boissevain Principal Brad White, there are officially 36 enrolled in the two Kindergarten classes this time around, which is good news.

“There are nineteen in one class and seventeen in another,” White stated. “That’s 36 Kindergarten kids officially. There may be more as some may not have registered quite yet, but right now there are 36.”

“That’s nice, because I think we graduated about 39 last year. That’s pretty close to having the same come in as go out, which is what we’re looking for.”

Overall, he said the K-12 school has an enrolment in 2009/10 of 390 students, which White feels might be up a few students from last year. As for a specific reason why they are up, he has no more definite idea than anyone else.

“I don’t know if there is anything specific,” he stated. ‘There are young families still around, people are having families at the same time. There have been people moving in.”

Although happy with the situation, White is cautious regarding too much elation. They are still projecting enrolment decline in the next five years, with all of the struggles with staffing and programming that entails.

“Our projections are 29 Grade 12 students leaving this year, and we could have a small Kindergarten class come in next year. We are projected to decline, like others in the Division. It only takes a few years of losing ten, losing ten, before you start to notice it.”

Although the date of classes starting is later in the calendar than usual, due to the tardy Labour Day weekend, it is earlier in some fashions than recently. Normally, they wait until later in the week to get going, allowing an administration day prior to the start of classes. This year, the students will be in their seats on a Tuesday, right after the long weekend.

“We’re starting the first day back,” White explained, “and we will use that day later. We wanted to see if it would benefit us to have an administrative day later.”

Changes in staffing this year are not too heavy. There are always changes in assignments within the school, but there are a few new people in. One is Sonia Stewart, previously of Minto School who will be teaching half-time Kindergarten. Another is Lyall McFarlane, who will be teaching selective courses in the Middle and High School areas. Lisa Halloran will also be returning from maternity leave. Lisa Aikenhead, who replaced Halloran, is gone, as is Shelly Mills due to staff number reductions.

Also, Val McCallum of the Minto area is taking over as cafeteria coordinator.

White said the school overall is not going through any major changes at the primary, middle or high school levels. However, there are a few things they will continue to work on this year. One is the Maplewood program. It is an online reporting system, which they have been working with for a few years to try to provide K-4 outcome report cards, 5-8 outcome and grade cards, and high school grade based cards. At this point they have been using the program to create hard copies of the report cards. However, the goal is to allow parents of grades 5-12 students, using a secure password to access their students’ progress on line, and be able to access their academic history to make comparisons.

“I wouldn’t say a time we are looking at to have this ready,” the principal stated. “The program developer needs to fix a few things, but we are working together to reach this goal.”

Also, they are working on improving student achievement, which is part of the school plan. Although White did not have too many specifics, he did know the basic goal.

“We want to look at the whole picture of student achievement,” he explained, “to better things, to help them along their way. It is focused on the four pillars – academics, teamwork, respect and leadership. Everything is based on that.”

As well, this is a Connections year, where high school students work on their own projects that connect different courses together, and show off the usually stunning results to the public. The program has been alive in Boissevain School since 1996, and although it was moved from every year to every second year, it still fits the purpose of inspiring students and getting them excited about education.

“That was a real neat idea to get going. They put a lot of work into it and they are rewarded in different courses. It has a real value to them. They do a good job and it is not just another project to them.”

As well as academics, the extracurricular are a part of the school year. White says the volleyball for one will be starting straight away, and the golf should also start soon. Sometimes it is difficult to get the coaching commitments straightened out, but everyone is in place for now.

Although the focus is usually on sports, White said there are other activities, like the peer helpers, Reach for the Top team and drama that gets good support from students and staff.

For many years, a major part of the school’s efforts have been building bonds with the overall community. White said the goal remains and is as much about spirit as specifics.

“The activities between the school and the community change year to year, but it is a focus to think of the community and how we connect with them and how it fits with the curriculum.”

For White, this is his second year in his position. He feels Boissevain School is a team and he takes that approach.

“I’m looking for people who have ideas and can give support,” he stated. ‘That is the part I feel good about. I’m still really looking to gain experience and the experience I have has made things better for me.”

White feels they will be ready to go next week. It does take some time to get the feel back, but usually once the first weekend is over; it is like no one was ever away. What will be a successful 2009/10 school year?

“I think the big thing is I want to see the communication between staff, students and parents. Students will be challenged to learn and we want to see them excited about learning. When you see students doing what they can to be better, that’s success.”