Fisher Park Solution : JK -8 School

Thanks Mark. And you too Meg.
I've tried to keep my nose out of this and let the people who are much more knowledgeable than I come up with the recommendations. So far, from what I've heard, it all seems to be making sense but the lack of an EFI program at Connaught, if that's what comes to be, has me stumped. It seems like such an obvious solution that perhaps that's the problem. It's too simple... (Yes, there would also have to be tweaks to the English programming at Connaught but those numbers are much smaller.) I don't know if there is a magic solution, but dual tracking Connaught seems awfully close.

From a safety standpoint, the Parkdale/Holland question shouldn't matter since kids from either side of those streets will have to cross them (if the FP option comes to fruition) and crossing guards can be requested to make it safer.

The problem I'm having with this whole exercise is unfortunately one of 'niceness'. I think we're trying to come up with a solution that works for all the parties in the Near West Review, as we all should be doing, but it's sounding more and more like everyone else is trying to solve 'their' problems and thus Devonshire gets the crumbs. With that in mind, does Devonshire have a preferred option? If we do, I suggest we don't offer a 'backup plan' as we did with the interim solution.

Nicholas, to your point: that 120% is if they count the 35 existing classrooms. There's a note on the side saying we should count on 10 more being made ready, so it would be feasible.

Well, in that case, we had better decide what we want as soon as possible. The ARC meeting was painful for me to watch because the two co-chairs, the Connaught rep, and of course our reps, are all Devonshire parents, and all could be promoting or facilitating this idea in one way or another. But the Connaught EFI idea was mostly missing in action. Not blaming you, Chris, but hopefully there is enough support for Connaught EFI among Devonshire parents that we can now give you and Lil some direction.

Not saying it is the only solution, but surely Connaught EFI is one of the leading solutions.

Just to clarify, Cambridge IS in Devonshire's catchment. I think the issue with adding EFI there is not filling it but having enough space to meet demand given that the school only has 100 or so free spaces. I think there are already 90 from the east side of the tracks attending Devonshire. Although the Elgin rep is so far against pinching any Elgin EFI students, parents between Bronson and Lyon could be given the choice, boosting numbers further for Cambridge.

One very strong argument for EFI at Cambridge is that kids from this neighbourhood should be going to Glashan anyway instead of Fisher Park for 7-8. I really don't like any scenario that involves sending all Devonshire kids to Fisher Park for additional grades. The big weakness of the current Connaught EFI proposal is that it necessitates sending 6s to Fisher Park. For all the reasons (and more) why this was rejected for the interim solution, it should be rejected for the long term solution. Maybe we need some kind of hybrid scenario - EFI at both Connaught and Cambridge? EFI at both Connaught and Fisher Park? Cambridge and Fisher Park? Some of the space at Fisher Park cold be used to relieve pressure at Broadview if people don't want to send younger grades there. I agree with Meg that a school of almost 1000 people would be rather daunting for a wee JK student. I can see needing the high school space in a few years too!

In any case, I agree with Christopher (good thing we agree) that at this point it is wise to keep an open mind and brainstorm ideas. It's early days, folks! We need to let the various scenarios be examined in turn.

I'm in favour of kids staying in their neighbourhoods as much as possible, so jk to 6 kids who live near fisher park I think could work quite nicely. It could be run as effectively two schools in one building to minimize interaction of big and little kids. I was reflecting tonight that the architecture isn't all that imposing, so it may not be so bad as a jk-8 school. Still not necessarily the ideal scenario.

I'm opposed to my (east side) kids going to fisher park at all - simply because it is not in our neighbourhood - so adding an extra grade there is not something I would be happy about. Its bad enough they go there for 7-8. It's not just the distance - to make it worse, everyone east of bayswater goes to Glebe for high school, meaning they have to leave behind all of their fisher park friends at the same time as transitioning to high school. The rest of Devonshire and everyone else at fisher park goes to Nepean. I think the board will have to add more middle school room downtown since Glashan is already full, particularly with the expansion of Mutchmor. I'd like to see Devonshire switch to Glashan or some future middle school for 7-8, so the more we move away from FP the better.

You are right - the main reason it was rejected forthe interim was the single class from Devonshire. however other objections were that it would remain top heavy with mostly 7-8 and a few 6s. Even with Elmdale as well it is way out of balance. Also it was mentioned that generally speaking this is not a recommended grade split for various pedagogical reasons. On the plus side, it gives the kids a bit of extra time to get to know the school.

All that said, I personally think EFI at Connaught is very likely going to be part of the final solution - we just need to figure out how best to make it work. It is all more complicated than it seems at first glance! No wonder the board pawned it off on the parents to figure out.

A Connaught EFI program has support among Devonshire parents. It seems to be a neighbourhood-friendly/Hintonburg option.

An issue I see is that:
1) Parents have "meeting fatigue" (me included), are overwhelmed by the number of meetings, are disillusioned by the result and continuing impact (TBD) of the interim solution and are distancing themselves from the discussion

2) the views discussed at any meeting are directly influenced by who shows up, they aren't necessarily the views of the community.

Do solutions have official champions? Is it worth having a discussion with Connaught principal Amy Hannah who seems very approachable, to get a sense of how realistic this solution is?

My two cents.

I have to echo what Mark has been saying. I don't think it's too early days to start building momentum for a Connaught dual track solution. I think everyone will be surprised how fast this process will go. Remember, they want feedback in June on concrete proposals and then everyone but those directly involved will forget about it for the summer and then it's fall and you have to submit a report to the board. I think we are being too hesitant and nice about making sure we speak for all, that we include other schools in our thinking etc etc. I can assure you Elmdale is not worried about those things. I can also assure you that they didn't speak for all with the interim solution, despite saying that they did. So I don't believe they can speak for all that conclusively at this point either. I think we have to get consensus from Devonshire parents pronto and start being more assertive about what works for our community.