For the upcoming school year, staff at Central school will be piloting a new Mennonite Alternative Program (MAP) designed to meet the educational needs of a growing demographic group in the community and surrounding areas.
“There’s always new stuff at the school but one of the big things here at Central is that we’re offering a Mennonite Alternative Program within the school,” said principal Darryl Moser. “It’s going to be grades 1 through 6, and we’ve hired a new teacher for that, Paula Falconer. Paula taught last year in Barons in a Mennonite program. So, we’re excited to have her on board.”
The program has already garnered interest from the Mennonite community with registrations throughout the summer months.
“It looks like we have a number of students registered already — about 30 students have registered for the program over the summer. About the same as other schools here in town, about 15 to 20 per cent (of Mennonite students). But the students that are coming to this program are going to be new to our school,” said Moser.
Moser said his school was not singled out for the program opportunity for any specific reason.
“It was just an opportunity — we were approached in June last year if our school was willing to and interested in being part of this exciting program. We were looking at hiring an ESL worker to help with some of the new families that we have gained over the last year, and from talks we looked at and explored making it a program similar to the ones that have been started in Grassy Lake and Vauxhall close to a decade ago.”
The Central MAP will provide a service to those in the Mennonite community that desire a unique solution to the education question.
“It was something the division identified with as a need here in town, with a growing Mennonite population that exists to offer a program that would meet some of the things that they are looking for in an education program for their children,” said Moser.
The program will be similar to others already established in Horizon School Division.
“It’s going to be grades 1-6 to start, and we’re going to take a look at the needs and the wants of those families that we’re going to be having in the program. It’s going to be modeled after a similar program in Vauxhall,” said Moser.
Fashioning a good fit for the program and its students should prove challenging for the year, but Moser is confident Central’s staff is up to the job.
“There’s always challenges to every year, but we’ve got a really strong staff here, and a lot of the teachers that have been here, have been here for quite a while. We’re just excited to be having several new students coming to our school and look forward to getting to know them, and getting to know their families, and providing a strong education for those new students, as well as continuing to provide a strong education for all of the students at Central.”