The Public Schools Branch Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Norbert Carpenter as director of the Public Schools Branch.

Mr. Carpenter has served as the acting director since July 2020. The board of directors has been consistently impressed with his skills and leadership. He has navigated the many challenges of a return to school during a worldwide pandemic, while simultaneously overseeing the day-to-day operations and management of the Branch’s 56 schools and offices.

Mr. Carpenter brings a wealth of experience working in Prince Edward Island’s public school system, including more than 20 years as a teacher and principal. Before becoming acting director, he served as an administrator support leader, a position which saw him directly support principals across PEI. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Prince Edward Island, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Maine and a Masters of Education from Mount Saint Vincent University.

Spring 2021

The Welcome to Kindergarten Program is designed for parents/caregivers and their children who will be entering kindergarten in September. All thirty-seven Public School Branch schools with Kindergarten organize a Welcome to Kindergarten Event for their incoming students. Schools are providing a Welcome to Kindergarten experience that will be meaningful to parents and students. The specifics of their event will be communicated to families by your child’s school. At the event families will receive early literacy resources and meet school staff. Strategies for how to use these resources with their child at home will be shared. The goal of Welcome to Kindergarten is to provide pre-school children with the resources and experiences to begin their formal education with a foundation of literacy nurtured in the home.

The Welcome to Kindergarten Program is a component of a national organization called, The Learning Partnership. The program is run across Canada in conjunction with local school boards and community agencies. On Prince Edward Island, special recognition is given to the Department of Education and Lifelong Learning for their support of the program. If families would like more information and resources they are encouraged to visit The Learning Partnership’s website at www.thelearningpartnership.ca/WTK

For a complete list of the dates and times for this year’s Welcome to Kindergarten sessions,  please visit our Welcome to Kindergarten page.

We look forward to welcoming our students back into school tomorrow for in-person learning. As we return to classes, some modified measures are needed to align with the Circuit Breaker and current public health guidelines. They include:

• All school-related sports games are paused. However, existing practices may continue, as can existing before and after school activities.
• All community use of school facilities will be paused until March 14, 2021. Effective March 14, community groups may access school gymnasiums similarly to pre-circuit breaker, with a number of conditions, including that plans are in place before the end of day on March 12. Groups should contact their school for more details. (Revised March 8, 2021.)
• All field trips involving bussing are cancelled until further notice.
• Daycares and early learning centers operating out of schools will continue as normal, including the before and after school programs.

As we communicated earlier this week, parent-teacher interviews will be held virtually or by phone. Your school will be in touch with you to make arrangements if they haven’t already. 

Please note that there are no classes on Friday. 

We will be following the same masking guidance as before the Modified Red Alert. You can find the details at https://edu.princeedwardisland.ca/psb/2020/12/30/back-to-school-masking-guidance/. 

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.