Riverbend-area Catholic schools shifting early childhood programming

St. Monica to focus on pre-kindergarten

A Riverbend-area school long focused on early education is transforming into the sole Edmonton Catholic School to offer only pre-kindergarten.

Starting in September, Kindergarten and Grade 1 classes will move out of St. Monica School in Brookside so the school can focus on three- and four-year-olds.

Kindergarten and Grade 1 classes will move to St. Mary school in Rhatigan Ridge, which has hosted Grade 2-6 classes in recent years.

St. Monica will double its complement of pre-kindergarten classes to eight a day from four, said Kris Hodgins, district principal of the Genesis School, which runs early learning programs across the district.

About 144 kids will attend the half-day programs.

A YMCA daycare that runs out of St. Monica is also expanding to include younger children, and will now take children as young as 19 months.

“One of the philosophical beliefs we have is the environment is the third teacher,” Hodgins said on Saturday.

“The more you can cater to young learners, the more positive the outcome could be.”

The benefits of pre-K

In addition to providing earlier interventions for children with disabilities, pre-kindergarten programs may also help children’s longer-term success in school, some research suggests.

Pre-kindergarten can better prepare kids for Grade 1, improve speech, language, vocabulary and social skills, Hodgins said.

The pre-kindergarten programs in Edmonton Catholic use an inquiry-based learning philosophy, which encourages tots to learn by asking questions about things that interest them.

A child who likes animals might be encouraged to ask how they move, how they care for themselves, and what they need to develop or grow, Hodgins said.

The Catholic school district’s pre-kindergarten program, 100 Voices, runs in several city schools and in recreation centres and city facilities.

District staff overseeing pre-kindergarten education will also move into St. Monica, and the school will become a professional development site for early educators across the city.

There’s increasing demand for pre-kindergarten programs from families across Edmonton, Hodgins said.

The program is free for children with disabilities and English language learners. Parents can also pay for typical children to attend.

Enrolment roller- coaster

Riverbend school-age children have oscillated between St. Mary and St. Monica as demographics have shifted during the last three decades.

St. Monica, which opened in 1971, has a relatively small capacity of 193 students, assistant superintendent of educational planning, John Fiacco, said last week.

When St. Mary opened in 1990, St. Monica students moved there, and the Catholic board leased the building to the Francophone school board. By 1994, St. Mary was overrun, and the Catholic district reclaimed St. Monica, and relocated kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 to the older building. Grade 2 later moved back to St. Mary.

As families with school-age children move deeper into the suburbs, St. Mary’s population is declining again.

At last count, it was at 61 per cent capacity.

Returning it to a K-6 school will bring its use up to about 86 per cent, Fiacco said.