Save Balmoral School
- al: Save Balmoral School Coalition
- destinatario: jthornthwaite@nvsd44.bc.ca
Petition to Keep Balmoral Junior Secondary School Open
To John Lewis, Superintendent of Schools, District of North Vancouver:
The Ministry of Education is committed to "improving quality, choice and accountability in education." Small schools and junior secondary schools have been proven to be successful in improving both attendance and achievement rates. Instead, this school board is closing small schools at a rate unprecedented in our province's public school history.
I am signing this petition to indicate my support for keeping Balmoral Junior Secondary School open in our community.
If Balmoral closes:
We must consider the broader context of what we want for all our students in the future. Will putting all students from Burrard Inlet to the Lion's Gate Bridge to the entire North Lonsdale - Delbrook area into a single large building in 2012 best serve the learning requirements of our diverse community of learners?
Ms. Thornthwaite and the NVSD Trustees, we exhort you to consider the legacy you will leave for North Vancouver School District students in the years to come should you elect to close Balmoral Junior Secondary School. A school is so much more than just a building. We encourage you to engage in more constructive dialogue with the many supporters of Balmoral with suggestions to increase the quality of education and preserve choice in education for all North Vancouver School District learners within the current and projected economic constraints.
To John Lewis, Superintendent of Schools, District of North Vancouver:
The Ministry of Education is committed to "improving quality, choice and accountability in education." Small schools and junior secondary schools have been proven to be successful in improving both attendance and achievement rates. Instead, this school board is closing small schools at a rate unprecedented in our province's public school history.
I am signing this petition to indicate my support for keeping Balmoral Junior Secondary School open in our community.
- I protest the current model for deciding the future of neighbourhood schools based solely on cost.
- I argue that junior secondary schools must have a place in the public school system.
- I argue that we should work to preserve choice and diversity in our educational system.
- I argue that neighborhood schools are a vital part of our community and bring benefits to our community and our students beyond economic benefits.
- I argue that together Carson and Balmoral would provide students with different learning needs with choice in where they get those needs met in the PUBLIC, not the PRIVATE school system.
If Balmoral closes:
- The last public junior secondary school on the North Shore closes.
- The last small secondary school on the North Shore closes. Research shows small schools serve our students well.
- Students at Balmoral catchment schools - including Carisbrooke, Larson, and Braemar - will all attend Carson, more than doubling the distance for students to travel to and from school.
- All Carson students in Grades 8-10 will be IB Middle Years students. Students who do not wish to be part of the IB Middle Years program will have to transfer to another school. Note that the two closest schools are operating at over-capacity already. Choice will be severely constrained.
- Students north of Highway 1 will travel across the Upper Levels to attend secondary school. Public transportation does not serve the needs of students north of Highway 1 in getting to Carson.
- More students will be driven to secondary school. More cars on the roads mean more traffic, more energy consumption, and more pollution.
- Fewer students will walk to school. Walking to school promotes healthy living and community. There are many concerns for the safety of the kids making this trip for extra-curricular activities in the dark and rain
We must consider the broader context of what we want for all our students in the future. Will putting all students from Burrard Inlet to the Lion's Gate Bridge to the entire North Lonsdale - Delbrook area into a single large building in 2012 best serve the learning requirements of our diverse community of learners?
Ms. Thornthwaite and the NVSD Trustees, we exhort you to consider the legacy you will leave for North Vancouver School District students in the years to come should you elect to close Balmoral Junior Secondary School. A school is so much more than just a building. We encourage you to engage in more constructive dialogue with the many supporters of Balmoral with suggestions to increase the quality of education and preserve choice in education for all North Vancouver School District learners within the current and projected economic constraints.
Dear Ms. Thornthwaite,
We the undersigned believe that Balmoral is not just special because of its size. It is special because it has found a way to deliver quality education in a way that inspires kids to learn; size is just an enabler. Balmoral allows for an environment in which kids and adults know each other well (not just teachers and students). More attention can be paid to individual students and their different needs with more opportunities for collaboration among staff.
Just a few years ago Balmoral's size enabled the community to come together and collectively work toward the successful creation of the IB Middle Years Program - the only public IB Middle Years program in a Junior Secondary setting. Today students are leaving the district for public schools in West Vancouver (817 this year alone) looking for the kinds of excellence in programming that Balmoral can offer. Students and their families are rejecting the larger public school model for smaller private schools. They are seeking the very things that Balmoral offers.
Please accept the accompanying petition in support of keeping Balmoral Junior Secondary School open with a vibrant and secure future as a centre for educational excellence offering IB Middle Years in Dual Steam French and English. It would be the first - and only - such school in BC, following the model of similar schools in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
Thank so much for your consideration.
firma la peticiónfirma la peticiónWe the undersigned believe that Balmoral is not just special because of its size. It is special because it has found a way to deliver quality education in a way that inspires kids to learn; size is just an enabler. Balmoral allows for an environment in which kids and adults know each other well (not just teachers and students). More attention can be paid to individual students and their different needs with more opportunities for collaboration among staff.
Just a few years ago Balmoral's size enabled the community to come together and collectively work toward the successful creation of the IB Middle Years Program - the only public IB Middle Years program in a Junior Secondary setting. Today students are leaving the district for public schools in West Vancouver (817 this year alone) looking for the kinds of excellence in programming that Balmoral can offer. Students and their families are rejecting the larger public school model for smaller private schools. They are seeking the very things that Balmoral offers.
Please accept the accompanying petition in support of keeping Balmoral Junior Secondary School open with a vibrant and secure future as a centre for educational excellence offering IB Middle Years in Dual Steam French and English. It would be the first - and only - such school in BC, following the model of similar schools in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
Thank so much for your consideration.
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