Tuesday 8 April 2014

Why would a Boundary Review be initiated to Include Park West School?

On Tuesday, April 08, 2014 by PWSParents

  • The Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) states it is because of “overcrowding” and positive migration to this area.  The data provided by HRSB does not support this statement as enrollment is expected to decline.
  • There is no demographic change for the catchment area of Park West School, and as a result migration should not increase.   With no data to support positive migration, again one would ask, why would a boundary review for Park West School be initiated?
  • Enrollment has stabilized for Park West School, not increased and is expected to decline over the next five years.  Park West offers an educational experience from Primary to nine; maybe people prefer this education model over others and as a result stay in the community to take advantage of this experience.  Maybe larger numbers exist because others outside of the community enroll into the school to be a part of the Park West experience. It is difficult to understand where the enrollment numbers come from or is it?
  • To date no answer to the question “what is the positive migration source for Park West School?” has been provided by HRSB staff to the Park West Community even though the question has been presented to Senior School Board Staff.
    • Could this be because the statement of “positive migration” is not true?
    • What does the data support?
    • Is the data accurate?
  • Park West School and community offers an encouraging and supporting environment where newcomers and immigrating families are attracted because it provides an environment that is supportive, and encourages them to meet others.  Park West School provides its students the opportunity to feel welcomed, accepted and connected to their schools and as a result they succeed academically as proven in HRSB’s very own testing scores and those of the Province of Nova Scotia.

  • Why would the Halifax Regional School Board not emulate Park West School as a model school for the future and for other schools?  A question the majority of us are wondering about.