Families of high school students who’ve just finished their Grade 9 year at Seycove in an innovative hands-on learning program say they’re glad that some of their program is being salvaged, but disappointed that two out of four courses are being cut next year.
Parents also voiced frustration if the program doesn’t get support from the school district, enrolment may continue to drop.
The Performance Learning Program, run out of Seycove Secondary in the North Vancouver School District, offers a multi-disciplinary program which teaches primarily through student projects, as well as through field trips and real-world interviews.
The program for grades 8 to 12 has been run for about a decade at Seycove.
Last month, families whose kids will enter Grade 10 in the program next year rallied to try to save their program, after school district officials said dwindling enrolment meant the program would have to be cut.
Since then, the school district has opted to retain two of the four program courses at the Grade 10 level including a humanities and personal growth plan course. But a math/science class and “maker” course that were previously part of the program won’t be offered to next year’s Grade 10 students.
Several parents of students enrolled in the program turned out to the final North Vancouver school board meeting of the year to tell trustees they’re disappointed in that decision.
Prisca Reynolds-Wylie, whose son is in the Grade 8 PLP program, said the move was “really discouraging” and could impact the future success of the program.
Joe Giustino, the father of another Grade 8 student, told trustees the real problem is lack of district support.
Giustino said in a later interview if families knew more about the program, more students would enrol.
“My son’s in Grade 8 and he coded his own app,” he said. “There should be a waitlist of 100 kids a year for this program.”
Gord Wylie, another parent, said most people only hear about the program through word of mouth. “These kids work their guts out,” he told the board. “They need you guys to back them up.”
The school district made the decision to chop the number of courses after only 11 students enrolled in the Grade 10 year of the program, said Deneka Michaud, spokeswoman for the school district. Typically programs require a minimum of 20 students to run. Earlier the school district indicated it could offer the full program if 17 students enrolled.
