In case you were not aware, in June the Lakeview area lost one of its elementary schools.  Athabasca School closed this past June, dispersing the leftover students to Lakeview and Argyle schools.  Athabasca, a school with a low population was one of several other schools that have closed under the Regina Public School Board’s “ten year renewal program.” Unfortunately, the program is not properly titled. Rather, it should be known as the “ten year school closure program.”

Schools in Regina are being closed on a yearly basis. And there are no new schools being built. The student projections for the end of the renewal plan are alarming. It is projected that over thirteen elementary schools in Regina will exceed 400 kids by 2018. The highest projected population is Hawrylak School, where it is estimated some 923 students will be attending school by the year 2018. Two more schools are cited for closure at the end of this school year, and who knows how many more are coming after that.

Lakeview and other neighbourhoods are full of young children that will be attending elementary school in the next few years. Supposedly, our city is growing and yet for some reason schools are closing. Instead of building additional schools to support a growing population, kids are being crammed into schools that are already full, and temporary classrooms (like the trailers you see on construction sites) are being slapped onto the backs of schools as a weak attempt to solve the problem.

As a city, Regina seems to be behind in the times when it comes to debates on school closures. Larger cities such as Edmonton have put a moratorium on school closures for the next few years in order to “explore a number of programs to support schools rather then close them”. In Vancouver, “specialty programs have been introduced in order to give struggling schools the chance to survive.” There has been loads of  research done has to show the benefits of multiple small schools rather then few large schools. So then why is Regina closing the doors of so many small, community schools?

One of the reasons probably has to do with finances. Schools are expensive. Buildings need to be maintained, and that costs money. It is easy to close a school when one looks at all of the money that will be saved. The only thing that seems to be overlooked is what is best for the kids. A local group called RealRenewal has some great ideas on how to shape the future of education in Regina. They envision small schools that kids can walk and bike to.  They see elementary schools as a hub for local community activities, such as adult education and daycare. Imagine having schools that aren’t just schools, but community centers that get used after school hours. Communities would be brought together! Neighbours would get to know each other! The benefits would be enormous.

A city’s education system is its most important service. This is why such a large portion of our taxes is allocated to the school boards. Schools are more important then garbage removal. Schools are more important then street sweeping. Schools are even, dare I say it, more important then building a new stadium for our beloved roughriders. The school board should be looking out for what is best for our community, not what is best for their accounting ledgers.

If you wish to express your concern about the future of Regina’s public schools, feel free email our ward’s school Board Trustee, Dale West. 

The above views expressed are those of the authour and not necessarily those of the Lakeview Community Association.

New Schools Needed is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

Posted via email from ericbell89′s posterous

Athabasca School to Close is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

Sheldon Williams Collegiate is known for a great music and drama program and their fall musical is one of the highlights of their schedule.   This year the students are getting back to the ’80s with a production of “The Wedding Singer.”  It’s a lighthearted blast from the past — go find your skinny tie, put on your Member’s Only jacket and come sing along!

Performances run November 12-14 and it’s cheap, cheap cheap!  Get your tickets at one of the following locations:

Cobb Swanson- 2924 13th Ave
Crocus & Ivy- 3420 Hill Ave
Book & Brier Patch- 4065 Albert Street
Sheldon Williams office- 2601 Coronation Street
Bach& Beyond- Golden Mile
or at the door if available.

The student’s have been working long hours for many weeks to pull the show together and it’s going to be an awesome show.  Come join the fun!

Hurry! The Wedding Singer Opens Tomorrow! is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

Last Tuesday, I had the privilege of meeting with parents and teachers of Ecole St. Pius X Catholic School to learn about what they are up to and share the story of the new (and hopefully improved) Lakeview Community Association.    It was a fun meeting, not only because parents who care enough to get involved in the community are my favorite type of people, but because there is a LOT going on at St. Pius School.

One thing I knew going in is that they are working on a ton of fundraising for new playground equipment.  They are busy with a mix of straight up fundraisers (like Mabel’s Labels, see below) and fun activities like a spring carnival that can also raise a few dollars.  The LCA has been able to help a little with a Community Improvement Grant and we helped each other this winter when St. Pius parents supervised the ice shack at Lakeview Rink.  There is still more for the crew to do, but it looks like they will be able to pull the project off.  Good Luck!

It doesn’t matter how often I see a project like this, it still takes my breath away at the huge effort and dollars involved.  The fact that we have so many playgrounds in the neighbourhood is a testament to the hard work that goes on in the community year after year. 

My message to the parents was one of thanks and cooperation — thanks for the work they do (like most volunteers, the people around the table pitch in in activities beyond the parent council) and cooperation in terms of sharing their story.  Sharing stories is a big part of what the LCA is about — if we can spread the word and connect the wide range of volunteer groups in the community, then I think we’re making a contribution.

St. Pius “Mabel’s Labels” Fundraiser  

Speaking of sharing, St. Pius parent Maureen Jickling  shared a really cool fundraiser they are running between now and September 14.  They are selling Mabel’s Labels — preprinted labels to put on all the stuff that kids lose, like camp gear, shoes, hats and the traditional underwear.   They look really cool and original and sound like a great idea even if it wasn’t a fundraiser. But it IS a fundraiser, so go order two!

You can get Maureen’s take on the fundraiser here, or just click here to order some labels.

St. Pius Parents Building Good Kids, Playground is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

As we mentioned before, this new public school will have the largest impact to the youngest children in our community, and those children still to come.  They need to be part of the journey!  Please forward this story or a link to the Lakeview Community Association website to all the new parents, expecting parents, or future parents in the neighbourhood — they need to be part of the discussion!

The dates have been set for the next three meetings to design a new public school in the greater Lakeview community.   As we reported a couple weeks back, Regina Public Schools is combining Argyle and Athabasca schools and building a new school in the neighbourhood.  The  dates for the next three sessions have been made public.  Now’s the time to tell all your neighbours and be part of the design process!

Site Visioning

This is an interactive workshop where everyone can share their vision for a new school.  What do we want to see? What do we want to avoid?

Friday, March 27, 2009

7:00PM – 9:00PM

Athabasca School Gym

Site Opportunities and Concept Design Presentation

This meeting will have the architects share concept designs based on our input from the Visioning meeting and their experience designing new schools in Canada and around the world.  We get to give more feedback based on the concepts that are presented.

Tuesday June 2, 2009

7:00PM – 8:30PM

Argyle School Gym

Conceptual Design Presentation

This presentation starts getting more concrete.  School site designs are presented specifically for the existing Athabasca and Argyle sites (or additional sites if some come up) and advantages and disadvantages described.  After this meeting the final recommendations and decisions will be made by the school board.

Wednesday October 14, 2009

7:00PM – 8:30PM

Athabasca  School Gym

It’s so very important that if you have young children, or care about public schools, or care about community development, or care about attracting young parents to the community, that you attend these sessions and share your ideas!  Let’s fill the gyms with people and ideas and build something that will last for decades to come!

Photos are from Fielding Nair International.  The main picture is of a community design session for the new North Central Shared Facility in Regina.  The headline is a conceptual design of a small school in Rhode Island.

Feeling left out?  Want to stay in the know?  Then subscribe to LCA email updates and you’ll never miss a thing!

Dates Set for Public School Redesign is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

This is an amazing story of urban renewal taking place right in our neigbourhood.  It will affect half of the children currently in elementary school, but the biggest impacts are to the youngest children, and those children still to come.  They need to be part of the journey!  Please forward this story or a link to the Lakeview Community Association website to all the new parents, expecting parents, or future parents in the neighbourhood — they need to be part of the discussion!

Residents of Regina’s Lakeview neighbourhood are embarking on an exciting journey this spring, as they work to design a school for the future in our older neighbourhood.   It’s part of Regina Public Schools‘  10 year renewal plan, which will renovate, refresh and combine several schools around the city over the next decade.

At a meeting to kick off the planning process on February 11th, parents and community members from the three public schools in Lakeview — Athabasca School, Argyle School, and Lakeview School — got the low down on a vision for investment in our community unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime:  the replacement of two 50+ year old schools with a school designed around the needs of 21st century children.  Attendees received an overview on the range of future education needs, various ways children learn, and how the needs of tomorrow are different from the schools of the past.  They also discussed how modern school design can support these new learning requirements and be flexible to adapt to more changes in the future.

The presentation was led by Randy Fielding of Fielding Nair International, an internationally renowned architecture and design firm who specialize in building schools for the new Creative Age.  Fielding Nair have been involved in over 200 school renovations and new school designs in 26 countries, from Nunavut to Tasmania to Regina, most recently with Regina’s North Central Shared Facility.

The stories and designs shared by Mr. Fielding were amazing to behold.  In school after school on every continent, Mr. Fielding explained how adjusting room sizes, combining private and public spaces and integrating indoors and outdoors (even in cold climates!) could enhance the education of children of all ages.  From large k-12 facilities in Indonesia, to remodeled schools in Minneapolis, to new learning centres in Rhode Island, attendees saw an overwhelming range of possibilities.

The meeting kicked off the next phase of a renewal process that has been going on for 3 years already.  This phase gets down to business — visioning sessions for a new facility in March, potential site plans in June, final decisions in October, then construction, with a planned Grand Opening in September 2012.  

The current RPS Renewal Plan calls for Athabasca School and Argyle School to combine around a new or renovated facility.  At the February 11 meeting, school board administrators stated that while facilities reviews are still underway, it’s looking like neither structure will support the level of renovation that is expected, which means a new school would be built.

Lakeview School is not officially included in this stage of the renewal plan (the school will be reviewed toward the end of the 10 year plan) but many current Lakeview parents attended the meeting.  Given the open boundary policy employed by RPS, it’s unclear how many students in the Lakeview School ‘serving area’ might rather attend a new, modern school once it is built.

Over the coming month, all community members are encouraged to get informed about and involved with this exciting new project.   We have the opportunity to build a school that will be the envy of all Regina, that can be a huge attraction for existing residents and new families looking to locate in Regina.  Let’s leave a lasting legacy for the next generation of students!

Photos are from Fielding Nair International.  The main picture is of a community design session for the new North Central Shared Facility in Regina.  The headline is a conceptual design of a small school in Rhode Island.

Feeling left out?  Want to stay in the know?  Then subscribe to LCA email updates and you’ll never miss a thing!

We’re Getting a New School! We’re Getting a New School! is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

Repost – Important Community Meeting on Public Schools, February 11 is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

This coming Tuesday, January 27, is Family Literacy Day which promotes the importance of reading and learning together as a family all year round.  

Every year on January 27 families, schools, libraries and community groups across Canada organize events to promote reading and literacy.  The parents and teachers at Athabasca School take it a bit further every year, holding their annual Reading Week event.  All week long the school is abuzz with guest authors, celebrities and performers working in the classroom and with small groups to explore the wide range of activities that depend on literacy.

This year, events include a Poetry Slam on Monday night and the annual Books For Breakfast event on Thursday morning.   The Athabasca Reading Week is one of the major highlights of the school year and is eagerly anticipated by the students and staff.

But don’t wait for your school to pull something together, or even for your child to be school aged!  According to the ABC Canada website, children who are 2 or 3 years of age and are read to several times per day do significantly better in kindergarten.  So head to the library, check out some books and read to your child!

A Question For You:  What are you doing to celebrate Family Literacy Day this year?  Let us know in the comments!

photos by swan-t and paulhami

Happy Family Literacy Day! is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

Part of the fun of celebrating a New Year is making resolutions. As I get older, it’s almost time to resolve to exercise my brain from time to time. Volunteering for the LCA does wonders for keeping the mind sharp, but I can still use an extra boost from time to time.

That’s why I was excited to learn about an event put on by the kids at Deshaye Catholic School. These young whippersnappers have thrown down the gauntlet and are challenging adults to a think-off and raising money at the same time!

R U Smarter than a Deshaye Catholic Student

Thursday, January 29th @ 7 p.m.

Miller High School

They’ve got the panel set to battle with the students.  Local celebrities like Gail Bowen, Carol Gay Bell, Jill Morgan, Greg Morgan, Mike Maurer, Mayor Pat Fiacco, Marty Klyne, Teale Orban, Police Chief Troy Hagen and a Saskatchewan Roughrider Surprise Guest will be participating.

Tickets to watch this monumental clash between the text-ers and the slide rules are only $15.00 for a family or $5 for an individual.  I think that means a 4 person family gets a deal, but I’m not sure.  5 gozinta 15, right?

You can get your tickets by emailing areyousmarterdeshaye@hotmail.com

I don’t think the grownups will stand much of a chance against the well drilled recruits from Deshaye, but don’t take my word for it.  Come out and watch!  I’ll bet you can do much better sitting in the audience anyway.  Yep.  Sure you can. …  What was the question again?

Gillicious took the big picture; The Wide Wide World the thumbnail.

New Years Resolution: Get Smarter, Help Schools is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.

Grade 7 and 8 students from all over Lakeview and area descended on the Sheldon Williams Collegiate gym this past Thursday for the Sheldon feeder school tournament. The tournament had an interesting format in new teams were formed with kids from all the schools. It was a great way for the students to meet someone new. For the grade 8 students, it was also a nice way to get used to the idea that they’ll all be headed to the same high school next year.

High energy, great fun, good sportsmanship and lots of noise. A great way to spend a cool November afternoon!

Sheldon Area Tournament Brings Kids Together is a post from: Regina Lakeview Community Association. You can get Regina community news sent straight to your email inbox by subscribing here.