Boards choose two east-end schools for full-day kindergarten

Both Our Lady of Wisdom and Convent Glen Public have been chosen to host all-day learning for youngsters in what will be a phase-in of all-day kindergarten across the province. All schools will be expected to offer full-day kindergarten by Sept. 2015.

On a motion from Orléans-Cumberland trustee Stephen Blais, the Ottawa Catholic School Board has recommended Our Lady of Wisdom be one of 11 schools included in the early learning program for the 2010-2011 school year.

One stipulation of the funding coming in from the province for phase one of the five-phase program is that the school hosting full-day kindergarten not need any physical or capital improvements to house the extra students, Blais indicated.

“Our Lady of Wisdom has the capacity without the need to build,” he said, noting the school’s boundaries were changed a few years ago to bring more students into the facility and keep the school open.

Instead of capital improvements, funding this year will go toward human resource costs and, as the program is phased in, money from the province will increase, Blais continued. He added the school board expects to see money for capital improvements by year two or three.

“There will be a need for funding for capital improvements,” Blais said. “Space is our largest constraint.”

While the program will ultimately cost more money to run and will require capital investments in the coming years, Blais indicated he supports full-day kindergarten.

According to Blais, children who attend full-day early learning programs have improved academic performance and social success when they enter Grade 1.

“The most successful societies of the future will be the best educated,” he said. “By investing in full-day learning, we are investing in the future success of our children and our nation.”

As part of the early learning program, four- and five-year-olds will learn under the guidance of a teacher and an early childhood educator, Blais noted.

He added the program will also help families avoid some expensive child care costs.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, meanwhile, will offer all-day kindergarten at Convent Glen, one of the smaller elementary schools in the east.

If approved by the Ministry of Education, Convent Glen will be one of 11 Ottawa-Carleton District School Board schools to start offering all-day kindergarten in September 2010.

“Convent Glen ES is the perfect school to launch this exciting new program,” Orléans-Cumberland public board trustee John Shea said in a release. “All-day kindergarten will be a great complement to the school’s thriving English and Middle French Immersion programs.”

School districts across Ontario will receive confirmation from the Ministry of Education in January on their chosen sites for all-day-kindergarten.