Class Placement Requests (2019-2020)
Over the next few weeks, school staff will be looking at our school configuration and starting to build our classes for 2019-20. We thank parents for the ongoing dialogue, regarding your child's educational and social-emotional needs, as this informs our class building process. The dialogue with staff may have occurred during:
• parent/teacher interviews or informal meetings with the teacher(s)
• IEP or behaviour plan meetings with our school-based team members
• meetings with the school Principal or Vice Principal
• meetings with other professionals who may work with your child: Speech Language Pathologist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, School Psychologist, etc.
Teachers, administration and other professionals, working with Cordova Bay students, take all of the information, gathered throughout the year, from the opportunities above and through our work with the students, to help us build classes that meet the needs of students in the best way possible. We take into consideration a myriad of factors, such as:
· learning needs - We plan for diverse student challenges and areas requiring enrichment or support.
· learning environment – Every child is unique and we create learning environments that support the engagement of all students in their personal learning journey. For example, multi-age and straight class placements for students are given careful consideration.
· social relationships - We strive to place students in environments where they can develop new friendships or continue friendships that foster a positive learning situation. Good buddies do not always make good classmates. We encourage risk-taking and plan classes where students have opportunities to develop leadership or mentorship roles or perhaps learn about new ways to navigate social situations through the role modeling of classmates.
· composition issues - To the best of our ability, we balance the number of students in each grade in a multi-age class. We also work to create mixed classes where there is consideration of the overall behaviour, social-emotional and learning needs of the students. Class size is also a key factor when planning our classes.
Based on all of the above, I encourage parents to only make a class placement request in situations warranting special consideration. Your request and rationale will be considered during our class building process; however, please note that no requests are guaranteed.
For special circumstances, please send your request by email to school Principal, Mrs. Mary Lynn Heron, at mheron@Saanichschools.ca by May 31st , 2019 deadline, including:
1. Your child’s name, current grade and current teacher.
2. The nature of your placement request. Please do not name specific teachers.
3. The special learning, social-emotional, and/or other needs warranting special class placement consideration.
Thank you for your support and trust in the complex process of class building.
Sincerely,
Mary Lynn Heron