School Daze are here again

Education Minister Nancy Allan Welcomes a Grade 1 Class At Grosvenor School in Winnipeg to their First Full Day of School.

September 4, 2013

EDUCATION MINISTER WELCOMES STUDENTS BACK TO SCHOOL

– – –
Smaller Class Sizes, Improved Curriculum, More Classrooms to Benefit Families This Year: Allan

Thousands of Manitoba students making their way back to school will see improvements in their classrooms to give them more of the supports they need this year, Education Minister Nancy Allan said today while visiting a Grade 1 class at Grosvenor School in Winnipeg.
“For every parent, there’s perhaps nothing more important than ensuring their children can get a good education and the attention they need,” said Allan.  “That’s why we’ve said no to short-sighted cuts that some governments have made and instead we’re building for the future with investments in the classroom and the priorities of families.”
Allan said the 2013-14 school year will be a very exciting and busy one as government moves forward with a number of major initiatives that will further improve the province’s schools and increase student achievement.  Students will be welcomed back to new science labs and renovated facilities, and students in Winkler will attend a new school which will be holding a grand opening on Oct. 24.
During the past year, the provincial government took on a number of initiatives to strengthen education in Manitoba.  Some of these included:

•     implementing smaller class sizes for students in kindergarten to Grade 3;
•     building new schools in Manitoba’s growing communities;
•     constructing additions and renovating classrooms to better suit smaller classes;
•     adding new gyms and renovating and building new science labs;
•     revising the kindergarten to Grade 8 math curriculum to ensure students are getting the basic skills they need to do arithmetic and solve problems;
•     implementing a new assessment policy to ensure more rigorous standards in schools;
•     providing a new plain language provincial report card, now implemented provincewide; and
•     taking measures to stop bullying in schools through proposed new legislation.

Since 1999, the Manitoba government has invested more than $845 million in public school capital projects including 18 new schools and 13 replacement schools, and has completed extensive renovations and additions to dozens of existing schools, the minister said.

- 30 -