Lake Country Calendar, September 09, 2015

Page 1

Calendar Lake Country

Petrina Koltun R

ealtoR

250-826-5660

Proudly Serving

www.lakecountrycalendar.com

petrinakoltun.com

Winfield, Oyama, Okanagan Centre and Carrs Landing since 1951

your home is where my heart is

September 9, 2015

Back in school

Inside

A new building

KEVIN PARNELL

and a financial jump start for the Lake Country Food Bank is a great role model. ...............................

When the doors of Davidson Road Elementary opened for the 2015-16 school session yesterday, it was all they could do to fit all the students into the building, the biggest and busiest of the three elementary schools in Lake Country. In fact, close to 50 students living in the Davidson Road catchment area—many in kindergarten but spread throughout K to Grade 7—will be in school in either Peter Greer Elementary or Oyama Traditional as school officials continue to grapple with how to change the catchment area for Lake Country’s three elementary schools. “We’re still trying to come up with better catchment areas for Lake Country,” said school superintendent Hugh Gloster. “That area has been the subject of some challenge with the Davidson Road catchment having the majority of the growth in Lake Country. “We know we have to adjust and we hope to bring that to closure before the winter break and new catchments will start for the following

3

Lighting up in Lake Country parks may soon be a thing of the past as one district councillor wants to catch up with other municipalities and ban the practice. ...............................

2

Flyers ■ Coopers ■ Home Depot ■ Jysk ■ Rona ■ Safeway ■ Shoppers Drug Mart ■ Staples

▼ GLOSTER

‘Super’ looks back on school years KEVIN PARNELL

KEVIN PARNELL/LAKE COUNTRY CALENDAR

LAKE COUNTRY’S busiest elementary school is Davidson Road which continues to operate at capacity. This year close to 50 students in the Davidson Road catchment will attend school at either Peter Greer or Oyama Elementary. September.” As schools in the Central Okanagan opened their doors and welcomed some 22,000 students into classrooms for the start of another school year, the school district is forecasting a slight increase in students across the board in the district, one of just a handful in the province that has increasing enrolment. However, outgoing superintendent Hugh Gloster says while growth in numbers is better than declining enrolment, it is putting a strain on current facilities. “We’re in an enviable position where we have

pockets of real growth but where we are having trouble is accommodating everyone in some areas,” said Gloster, who will close out a 30-plus year career this fall with the Central Okanagan School District. [See related story this page.] “It’s a lot easier to face the pressure points and grow than to have to close schools.” In Lake Country, there are still long term plans to build a new middle school next to George Elliot, a move that will free up space in the three elementary schools as it would allow the middle school to move to the new Grade 6 to 8 configuration. The

school district owns the land but is currently leasing it back to the Aspen Golf Course for use until a new school is approved, some time in the future. School’s in Rutland are the first area in the school district that will move to a new grade configuration this year as elementary schools move to kindergarten to Grade 5, middle schools to Grade 6 to 8 and high schools to Grade 9 to 12. The school board mandated the move to the new grade configuration in 2012. However, no other area in the Central Okanagan is yet able to make the switch and the district says it will likely be the better

part of a decade before all schools are changed over. Other changes this year include the implementation of new curriculum from the provincial government, designed to engage students better and develop deeper thinking as opposed to just memorizing facts. The new curriculum is optional in kindergarten to Grade 9 this year, before it is mandated next year. Grade 10 to 12 will have its optional year with the new curriculum next year before its implemented for the 2017 school session. newsroom @lakecountrynews.net

As Central Okanagan School District superintendent Hugh Gloster walked through the halls of Kelowna Secondary School last week, he stopped to peruse some of the old school pictures and reminisce about his days as a teacher at KSS. You couldn’t blame him for the trip down memory lane. Come this fall, Gloster will retire from a 36-year career in Central Okanagan schools. He was a teacher for a decade where he taught everything from kindergarten to Grade 12, then a principal and vice principal, and finally into school board administration, where he has been superintendent for the past six years. To say Gloster has been a fixture on the Central Okanagan education scene is an under-

SEE GLOSTER A3

Oil Change and Tire Centre

29 TIRE

$

99

ROTATION 9716 Hwy 97N, Winfield

778-480-2100

OFF 15 OIL

$

CHANGE

NEXT TO 7-11

10 OFF

$

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUSH

*Present coupon for savings

HOURS: Mon-Fri 8-6, Sat 8-5, Closed Sun

ISSUE #46


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.