Population growth in south Winnipeg, Selkirk sends Grade 9 students to high schools, prompts Grade 5-8 changes

Hundreds of students in Winnipeg's fastest-growing school divisionare graduating to new high schools and middle schools faster than they likely imagined.

As Pembina Trails grappleswith a lack of space, thedivision has made changes to which grade levelsattend13 of its south Winnipeg schools beginning Wednesday a shiftthat involvesshuffling many students and staff to new buildings.

All Grade 9 students will now spend theirentire high school careers under the same roof, rather than spending the first year in an otherwise middle-school environment andjoining their older peers forGrade 10.

Thesemoves will align Pembina Trails' high schools with theircounterparts across the province, with the exception ofSelkirk-area schools, which plan to make similargrade adjustmentsfor next year.

Pembina Trails assistant superintendent Troy Scott said rearranging 13schools, along with last year's tweaking tobus routes andstart and end times for classes, marks the culmination of the division'smulti-year planning.

It's a big change, but one students are excited about, he said.

Bigger schools, more choice

"The biggest questionfrom kids is: What are my opportunities?" Scott said. They'reparticularly interested in the school's extracurricular activitiesandclubs, which are "a draw for kids socially," he said.

Therestructuringmakes sense from an academic standpoint, too, said Scott.

He hasworked in middle-year schools that had to balance theneeds of Grade 9 students trying to get high school credits, while also supporting students in lower grades who still have areport card-based curriculum.

The change will "move kids more into thatarea where they need to be," he said.

Fort Richmond and Vincent Massey schools will shift from offering Grade 10-12 to Grade 9-12 (Vincent Massey willremain a Grade 9-12 site for French-language students).

Pembina Trails Collegiate, which opened in 2023, is also now a Grade 9-12 school.

Meanwhile, the grade level adjustments in schools for younger studentswill free up space in south-end buildings nearing capacity due to a population boom, specifically in theWaverley West neighbourhood.Continued growth across the division brings an extra 700 to 850 students to Pembina Trails every year, Scott said.

Acadia will shift from a Grade 7-9 school to 6-8, while Arthur A. Leach will no longer have Grade 9 students, becominga 5-8 building. TheGrade 9 students who would have gone to those schoolswillheadto Fort Richmond instead.

General Byng will becomeK-8and Henry G. Izatt5-8, with Grade 9 students going toVincent Massey instead of those schools.

As well, several current K-6 schoolsBairdmore, Chancellor, Dalhousie, Oakenwald, Prairie Sunrise and Ralph Maybank will shift toK-5.

Previously, some Grade 6 students occasionally travelled tomiddle schools toaccessprogrammingsuch as industrial arts classes, Scott said.

Puttingthose students into a middle-years building permanently will expose them to extracurricular opportunities and school events better suited totheir age group, he said.

Selkirk adjusting grades for 2025

Next fall, Lord Selkirk School Division will undergo a similar schoolreconfiguration that will funnel all Grade 9 students into theLord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School in the city of Selkirk,and nearly all Grade 6 students into middle schools.

That willintroduce studentsto a greaterbreadth of opportunities, saidsuperintendent Jerret Long.

For example, high school educators are planning to relauncha sampler-style offering where Grade 9students try three vocational courses over the course of a year, Long said.

Under the current structure, students may only get a taste of some of theseclasses in Grade 10, which is a year of transition for students acclimatizing themselves to a new environment and, in the case ofsome rural students, acity, Long said.

"It's so much easier to plan ahead instead of retroactively looking back and saying, 'I wish I had done this,' and trying to get into programs that sometimes are full," he said.

Thedivision will create Grade 6-8 middle schools out of East Selkirk, cole Selkirk and Lockport.

Meanwhile, all existing K-6 schools in the division, except for cole Bonaventure, will shed Grade 6: Centennial, Daerwood, Happy Thought, Mapleton, Robert Smith, Ruth Hooker, St. Andrews and William S. Patterson.

Long said divisionadministrators have wanted to make these changes for some time,butthere was added impetus with growth inSelkirk, specifically in the city's west end.

New kids showing up

The city's Robert Smith School, for example,has reduced the size of its library to make space and sometimes has two classes sharing the gymnasium.

Kristy Magnusson, who serves on the school's parentadvisory council, said her youngest daughter, Rachelwho is entering Grade 5 has noticed the influx in new families.

"She would come home quite often saying, 'somebody new is coming into my class,' or'we got a new kid,'or 'somebody else is walking down the hallway with the principal looking at the school.'"

Given the space crunch, Magnusson understands the division's rationale, even if there's a tinge of sadness to knowing she'll only be an"elementary school mom" for one more year.

Rachel was bummed as well, but then the nine-year-oldremembered what her sister got when she entered a new school: her first cellphone.

"Now my soon-to-be junior-higher thinks she's getting a cellphone in Grade 6," Magnusson said.

Rachel is making her case already.

"And now we just are trying to ignore it for this year,"said Magnusson, chuckling.

Hundreds shuffling schools in Winnipeg, Selkirk to accommodate growth

2 days ago

Duration 2:39

As Manitoba students get set to head back to class this week, hundreds of Winnipeg students are graduating to new high schools and middle schools faster than planned. Selkirk and its surrounding communities will follow suit next year.