The Greater Victoria School District says it will add portables and additional French Immersion classes for the coming school year as it grapples with an increase in kindergarten enrolment.
The district said that the move was necessary to be able to accommodate all catchment students who were registered in January.
It’s expected that some of the portables will be made into permanent additions.
“We’re starting to see an increase in student enrolment that hasn’t been seen in Greater Victoria for many years,” Supt. Piet Langstraat said in a news release. “We are working quickly to respond to the needs of families across the district and accommodate neighbourhood students who have registered to attend their neighbourhood school.”
The district says its current growth spurt is coming from spiking real estate activity, population grown of kindergarten-age children and potential class size reductions resulting from a recent Supreme Court decision.
SD61’s student population is expected to grow by about 2,000 students in the next 10 years, it said.
Demand for French Immersion is also increasing, so the district said it will add two classes – one at George Jay Elementary and another at Sir James Douglas School for the 2017-2018 school year.
Families with students entering kindergarten who want to get them into a school outside of their catchment can still apply for transfer until this Friday, but space is limited at all grade levels, the district said.
