Off-Island enrolment in Lester B. Pearson School Boards is booming. Enrolment in West Island schools, however, is not as robust.
But Lester B. Pearson School Board chairman Suanne Stein Day sees evidence of an upswing on the way.
“Kindergarten registration is up for the first time in years,” Stein Day said. “That tells us there is a new wave of eligible students on the way and it says our (enrolment) decline is levelling off.”
Solid Off-Island numbers show no signs of flagging.
“Enrolment in Off-Island schools has exploded,” Stein Day said. “We were way over capacity until Birchwood Elementary finally opened in St-Lazare (in December 2011). That eased crowding, but we’re still pretty packed.”
Building schools is complicated because the school board can’t buy land. It’s up to municipalities to donate the land and that’s not the most attractive option because schools don’t pay property tax.
“It’s an awkward situation,” Stein Day said. “Municipalities need a strong tax base, so they are keen to sell land to a developer who will build a strip mall. And adding services like that to a community is good for its residents. But then, communities need schools, too. It’s a dilemma.”
Stein Day said architects are looking at ways to expand St-Patrick Elementary in Pincourt. The school has 352 students enrolled this year. Its capacity is 264.
Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau Elementary in Vaudreuil-Dorion is also operating over capacity.
“But there’s no land to expand, so (PET Elementary) has to find a way to build up,” Stein Day said. “But if they add another floor, the children can’t be there while the work is being done and finishing the work in two summer months is a challenge.”
While a handful of elementary and secondary schools in the West Island are operating at close to capacity, only St. Thomas High School in Pointe-Claire is operating above capacity, with 1,324 students enrolled and a capacity of 1,275.
“It was the first (Lester B.) school to offer the international baccalaureate program,” Stein Day said. “And it turned out to be a huge success from the very beginning for high-achieving students looking for a challenge. We turn away between 100 and 200 students a year.”
Lakeshore Academy in Lachine also offers an international baccalaureate program, but the school’s enrolment sits at less than half its capacity.
“The neighbourhoods of Lachine, Verdun and LaSalle are losing their anglo population,” Stein Day said. “Much of the population moving into the areas is made up of new immigrants who are not eligible to send their children to English schools.”
Stein Day said government policies that restrict educational choices have played a role in the shrinking anglo population.
She also acknowledged that some English families choose to send their children to French schools to completely immerse them in the French language and culture.
“I respect and understand that they make the decision for any number of reasons,” she said. “My job is to build a better product which will keep our students in our schools.”
The Pearson board has three levels of French instruction: Français Plus studies are 80 per cent French and 20 per cent English until Grade 4. Immersion studies are 80 per cent French and 20 per cent English until Grade 2. Bilingual studies are 50 per cent French and 50 per cent English throughout.
“Children are bilingual when they graduate from our schools,” Stein Day said.
Stein Day said the board’s mission is to offer programs that best cater to students’ needs, whether it be keeping teens from dropping out or helping children with special needs better navigate the protocols of elementary school.
If teens drops out, they are visited by school staff and asked what it would take to get them back into the classroom. The board’s robotics program is proving to be very popular with teens at risk.
Some Lester B. elementary schools offer respite classrooms for children with special needs or behavioural problems.
In November, Lakeside Academy launched a program that supplied every Grade 7 student with a laptop. And a “White Room” was created for students to study using their laptops. All surfaces are painted white and can be written on or used as an image-projection surface.
“It was so exciting to see,” Stein Day said. “We have to find ways to engage students. They aren’t wired like (their parents’ generation). Their brains work differently.”
Enrolement at Lester B. Pearson Elementary and High Schools in the West Island:
Beacon Hill Elementary (Beaconsfield)
2013 enrolment: 316
Capacity: 351
Beaconsfield High School
2013 enrolment: 1,098
Capacity: 1,200
Beechwood Elementary (Pierrefonds)
2013 enrolment: 265
Capacity: 291
Christmas Park Elementary (Beaconsfield)
2013 enrolment: 258
Capacity: 432
Clearpoint Elementary (Pointe-Claire)
2013 enrolment: 319
Capacity: 444
Dorset Elementary (Baie d’Urfé)
2013 enrolment: 271
Capacity: 288
Dorval Elementary
2013 enrolment: 348
Capacity: 444
Greendale Elementary (Pierrefonds)
2013 enrolment: 288
Capacity: 420
Horizon High (Pointe-Claire)
2013 enrolment: 132
Capacity: 220
John Rennie High (Pointe-Claire)
2013 enrolment: 1,318
Capacity: 1,650
Lakeside Academy High (Lachine)
2013 enrolment: 473
Capacity: 1,150
Lindsay Place High (Pointe-Claire)
2013 enrolment: 696
Capacity: 1,375
Macdonald High (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue)
2013 enrolment: 657
Capacity: 975
Maple Grove Elementary (Lachine)
2013 enrolment: 335
Capacity: 408
Margaret Manson Elementary (Kirkland)
2013 enrolment: 341
Capacity: 396
Pierrefonds Comprehensive High
2013 enrolment: 872
Capacity: 1,450
Riverdale High (Pierrefonds)
2013 enrolment: 604
Capacity: 1,250
Saint-Anthony Elementary (Pierrefonds)
2013 enrolment: 363
Capacity: 396
Saint-Charles Elementary (Pierrefonds)
2013 enrolment: 291
Capacity: 375
Saint-Edmund Elementary (Beaconsfield)
2013 enrolment: 394
Capacity: 396
Saint-John Fisher Junior Campus (Pointe-Claire)
2013 enrolment: 291
Capacity: 399
Saint-John Fisher Senior Campus (Pointe-Claire)
2013 enrolment: 405
Capacity: 528
Saint-Paul Elementary (Beaconsfield)
2013 enrolment: 331
Capacity: 351
Saint-Thomas High School (Pointe-Claire)
2013 enrolment: 1,324
Capacity: 1,275
Sherwood Forest Elementary (Beaconsfield)
2013 enrolment: 255
Capacity: 426
Springdale Elementary (Dollard-des-Ormeaux)
2013 enrolment: 247
Capacity: 459
Sunshine Academy Elementary (Dollard-des-Ormeaux)
2013 enrolment: 324
Capacity: 396
Terry Fox Elementary (Pierrefonds)
2013 enrolment: 350
Capacity: 459
Thorndale Elementary (Pierrefonds)
2013 enrolment: 195
Capacity: 444
Westpark Elementary (Dollard-des-Ormeaux)
2013 enrolment: 562
Capacity: 639
Wilder Penfield Elementary (Dollard-des-Ormeaux)
2013 enrolment: 334
Capacity: 396
Enrolement at Lester B. Pearson School Board Schools Off-Island:
Birchwood Elementary (Saint-Lazare)
2013 enrolment: 377
Capacity: 396
Edgewater Elementary (Pincourt)
2013 enrolment: 449
Capacity: 432
Evergreen Elementary (Saint-Lazare)
2013 enrolment: 338
Capacity: 351
Forest Hill Junior Campus (Saint-Lazare)
2013 enrolment: 242
Capacity: 318
Forest Hill Senior Campus (Saint-Lazare)
2013 enrolment: 399
Capacity: 432
Mount Pleasant Elementary (Hudson)
2013 enrolment: 315
Capacity: 327
Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau Elementary (Vaudreuil-Dorion)
2013 enrolment: 389
Capacity: 375
Saint-Patrick Elementary (Pincourt)
2013 enrolment: 352
Capacity: 264
Westwood Junior Campus (Saint-Lazare)
2013 enrolment: 407
Capacity: 750
Westwood Senior Campus (Hudson)
2013 enrolment: 609
Capacity: 1,020
kgreenaway@montrealgazette.com