School registrations underway

By Jessica Tulpin

January is a month of new beginnings and school registration is one of them. Port Rowan Public School is now accepting registrations for children who will be four or five years old by Dec. 31st, 2019, for full-day Junior and Senior Kindergarten for the school year beginning this September.

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above: Principal Lynda Kilpatrick and kindergarten teacher Mrs. Deserranno invite parents of children aged four or five to register now for kindergarten starting in September. They all give Port Rowan Public School the ‘thumbs up’!

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Principal Lynda Kilpatrick welcomes parents of children in this age group to come in to fill out a registration form. More information, including complete registration instructions can be found on the Grand Erie District School Board’s website, www.granderie.ca.
“Port Rowan is such a great community. We strive to be welcoming and inclusive and would love to have your kids join us at our school,” said Mrs.Kilpatrick. She noted that although registering your child for kindergarten early is a good idea, parents can register their child at any time.
Kindergarten orientation will be held in May for parents and future students to come see the school and the classrooms and become acquainted with the teachers.
While children are preparing to begin their journey in education, others are preparing to move on to high school. Grade Eight students were visited by Ms Alison High, Principal of Valley Heights Secondary School on January 8th. She brought high school registration packages for the students and offered assistance with course selection.
In addition to the classroom visit, VHSS held a Future Grade Nine Student & Parent Information Night held on the evening of January 10th. The event welcomed parents and students from all of VHSS’s “feeder” schools- Port Rowan Public, Walsh Public, Houghton Public, Langton Public and Courtland Public. Students were given “passports” that included a map of the school that showed open classrooms and a timetable listing presentations by teachers of subjects that students might find of interest, like Science, Manufacturing, Business and Hospitality. Families spent the evening moving from classroom to classroom, learning about what the high school can offer them.
“I am very happy with the turn out tonight. It’s great to see how many people took the time to come out to visit the school and see what we’re about. It’s a great way to clear up a lot of misconceptions the community may have about us. We are a small school but we have a lot to offer in terms of programs. A lot of our focus here tonight is to show parents that they can send their kids here and they can get the education they need to get where they want to go in life,” said Ms. High.
Mrs. Kilpatrick is excited to see the grade eight students getting ready to move on to high school.
“We look forward to the next chapter for the students about to enter high school. We are proud to have been able to have you here at Port Rowan to prepare you for your journey.”