December 12, 2018
Students from Orchard Hill and Lewis Point Park who are in English programs at Spring Park Elementary will be rezoned to West Royalty Elementary. The transition will begin in September 2019 with K-2 students, and Grades 3-6 students may choose to continue at Spring Park or transfer to West Royalty.
This decision was made by the Board of Directors of the Public Schools Branch at a public meeting on December 12, 2018.
The rezoning will address overcrowding at Spring Park and keep both Spring Park and West Royalty within their functional capacity. The number of student transitions will be minimized as some students who were rezoned in the past will not have to move again.
This decision follows a review of Charlottetown schools in the summer of 2018 when three options were presented to the board. The Board deferred its decision on elementary schools to allow for more analysis.
Option 1, which was the decision to move Spring Park students to West Royalty, was chosen by the board for several reasons:
- It will address overcrowding at Spring Park.
- It will balance elementary populations by zoning close to 500 students to each school.
- It can be phased in over time while enabling siblings to remain together and minimizing the number of student transitions.
- Orchard Hill and Lewis Point are adjacent to West Royalty, making them a natural fit with this school community.
- The option can be implemented by September 2019.
- Planning is underway for a new addition to open at West Royalty in 2020.
- Option 1 was the one that the public preferred during the consultations in all platforms.
This rezoning is one of several recent initiatives undertaken by the Public Schools Branch to address growing and shifting student populations in the Charlottetown area:
- The rezoning implemented in 2017 effectively balanced the intermediate school populations.
- Construction began this year on classroom additions at Stratford Elementary and L.M. Montgomery to address overcrowding in elementary schools and provide room for growth.
- The addition of a new wing at West Royalty Elementary was expedited by one year and will now be ready for students in 2020.
- Plans have been announced to balance Charlottetown high school populations by constructing a new $38 million high school in Stratford.
Projected Enrolment Numbers for Spring Park Elementary and West Royalty Elementary.
For additional information please visit Charlottetown Family of Schools Review.
