- It isn’t what about 50 parents, students, and supporters of the Adventure Class at Queen Victoria School in Belleville wanted to hear.
Following a passionate and detailed presentation by Aaron Dunleavy and Erin Spicer-Bowland aimed at having the Hastings Prince Edward District School
Board cancel a senior staff decision to cancel the Adventure Class in two years time, the crowd heard that the board would only receive the delegation as information and would not comment on the issue.
Trustee Lisa Anne Chatten expressed disappointment in how the meeting was communicated to parents. “I think a lot of them thought we were going to reverse this decision tonight.”
She was told that Dunleavy and Spicer-Bowland had been clearly informed that the board would be taking no action.
Aaron Dunleavy (left) and Erin Spicer-Bowland. (Photo: John Spitters/Quinte News)
Meanwhile, the Director of Education Mandy Savery Whiteway said she would personally be in contact with Dunleavy and Spicer-Bowland tomorrow (Tuesday) and that along with the Queen Victoria School Principal would meet with Adventure Class parents for in depth meetings with an eye to a smooth transition to the new Easthill Elementary School in two years.
The new school will be an amalgamation of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth schools and be built on the current site of Queen Elizabeth school.
In an interview following the meeting, Director Savery-Whiteway said staff had considered the Adventure Class and where it fit in to the modern school curriculum for some time. “The Adventure Class will cease to exist as it does now in two years time, as senior staff has decided. The education system has changed a lot in the past 30 years and we will be offering much, if not all, of what the Adventure Class offers in our regular classes. This is an operational decision and as such is not a concern of the Board of Trustees who deal with policy matters. I, with other staff, will be consulting often with the parents in the next while to see how we can best move forward, however the Adventure Class will definitely continue to be offered for another two years.”
Following the meeting Adventure Class parent Sara Forgie Van Zijl teared up as she commented on what looks like the end of the line for the 33-year-old program.
“The staff made this decision without really checking out what was going on in Adventure Class. None of the people involved were ever asked for their opinions. They just decided to cancel a program that works wonders for so many kids. One thing’s for sure, we’ve got current and former students, parents and volunteers willing to fight to keep Adventure Class going. We aren’t giving up yet.”
Earlier, in the formal presentation, Erin Spicer-Bowland said “this is a program that should be expanded, not cancelled!”
Adventure Class is a family-oriented program started back in the ’80s that features heavy parental and volunteer involvement in and outside of class, lots of hands-on learning and more in-community activities and excursions than have been the norm in the regular classrooms.
The regular provincially mandated curriculum from grades 1 to 6 is taught in a multi-age, multi-grade setting. Families apply to have their children enrolled and students are chosen via a lottery.
This school year, there are 45 students in total being taught by two teachers. There is a grades 1 to 3 group and another with grades 4 to 6. At times, all grades are put together for learning and activities.
