Bridgewater Elementary School

Student Transfer Policy

March, 2007

The Bridgewater Elementary School Advisory Council continues to work towards making our school the best it can be for our students, staff, parents and community. One area of concern identified by parents and staff was to take a look at our current Student Transfer policy. Staff and parents have requested that a transfer policy be revised to better reflect and to confirm which students are able to attend Bridgewater Elementary School. The current SAC has adopted the following criteria for students who attend our school: Students attending Bridgewater Elementary School are to live within town limits and reside with their legal guardian(s).

Bridgewater Elementary was not designed to have students remain at lunch time. For the first ten years, all of the students went home for lunch. Today, close to 450 students stay at the school for lunch. They eat in 22 separate classrooms. We only have five noon supervisors for these 22 rooms. The students play outside on three different playgrounds, in very limited space. Overcrowding is unavoidable, with a population of close to 500 students.

The current SAC wants to develop this student transfer policy to ensure the number of students continues to be reduced in any way that is reasonably possible. The school is located in the center of town, near the central business district for the entire region. Often parents make requests to have their children attend this school. In some cases it would be more convenient for parents who work in Bridgewater. We do not view this as a reasonable request, given our current situation.

Transfer In

Students will not be permitted to transfer into Bridgewater Elementary unless they live within town limits and reside with their legal guardian(s). If transfers were permitted, it would result in a significant number of transfer requests. It has been the practice at BES for the past number of years, not to grant transfer requests into the school, except for our Middle French Immersion program. Also since the implementation of the provincial Student Services policy several years ago, we no longer accept transfers from students outside town limits who have special needs. These students now go to their neighborhood schools.

We still receive an occasional request for a transfer for French Immersion, although it has decreased since late immersion (starting in Grade 7) was implemented in some of our surrounding junior high schools. However, for those who wish to transfer into our Middle French Immersion program, they may be accepted, depending on availability of space. Students in grade three of a school year, who wish to enroll in grade four Middle French Immersion the following year, may apply to transfer in to the school for this program only. If the class size is less than the thirty (30) registered students from within the school, these transfers will be accepted for admission the following September.

If there are more transfer students applying for immersion than there is space, they will be admitted in the order that they applied for admission, until the class reaches thirty (30) students. Preference for admission to the program will be given to students currently attending our school, who apply by the deadline dates outlined in our Middle French Immersion policy. Students in some of the other elementary schools in the board have access to late immersion in their feeder schools.

For more information on our Middle French Immersion program and policy, go to our school’s website at www.bes.ednet.ns.ca

Transfer Requests in Mid Year

There are instances when a family will relocate to a home outside the proper town limits of Bridgewater during the school year. In this situation the parent will be expected to register their child/children in the neighborhood school. However, if the family moves after March Break to June of a school year, they may apply for a transfer to remain at BES and this will not be unreasonably denied. However, the student will be expected to enroll in their neighborhood school for the following September.

Administrator Initiated Transfers

Under exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to accept or deny a transfer that falls outside these guidelines. Such exceptions will be carefully considered within the context of this policy, and if deemed appropriate, approved by both principals of the schools involved, and the Superintendent of Schools. It is however, the intent of this policy to reduce student population, and approval for transfers into the school should be exceptional in nature. It is understood that the South Shore Regional School Board is the final authority on all student transfers and an appeal process is in place for parents who wish to make use of that opportunity.

Approved by consensus of the BES School Advisory Council, at the regular public meeting on March 20^th, 2007.

SAC Chair, Tina Munro