The ARC That Should Have Been, part five: Crestwood and the townships

Crestwood Secondary is another mid-sixties institution built to accomodate the baby-boom generation and suburban sprawl. Located just west of Brealey Drive on Sherbrooke, the school, along with its elementary neighbour James Strath, is technically outside the city limits. One reason for this location was the easily available space, and another was to service the townships surrounding Peterborough to the south and south-west. Crestwood hosts graduates of James Strath, Kawartha Heights, North Cavan on County Road 10, Millbrook/South Cavan in Millbrook, and South Monaghan in Bailieboro.

James Strath serves students from the ex-urban areas immediately west of the city limits and also students from the sprawling subdivisions of Monaghan Ward west of Wallis Drive. The massive JK-8 school has enough students for three full classes per grade and seems stable at about 95% capacity. The residential development in the Ravenwood and Jackson Creek areas ensures that that demand for its services isn't going to fall in the near future.

James Strath also provides intermediate level education for graduates from Kawartha Heights, a JK-6 school located on Kawartha Heights Boulevard just north of Lansdowne. In addition to students in its subdivision, Kawartha Heights also serves those living south of Lansdowne in the Sir Sandford Fleming College area. The enrolment trend at Kawartha Heights is slightly downward, possibly reflecting to some extent the increasing popularity of French Immersion programs requiring students to leave the neighbourhood. As the chart below shows, however, it remains at an acceptable 80%, with enough students for about 1.5 classes per grade. 

	cap.	KPR projections
		2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	appr.	per grade	classes
Crestwood	933	892	908	884	95%	205
Kawartha Heights (JK-6)	282	238	233	225	80%	28	1.5
James Strath (JK-8) *	644	625	595	614	95%	55	3
North Cavan (JK-6)	150	145	128	125	85%	16	1
Millbrook/S.Cavan (JK-8) *	337	321	322	309	90%	28	1.5
South Monaghan (JK-8)	204	136	116	107	55%	11	0.5
total elementary	1617	1465	1394	1380	85%	138	7
"half-total"	820	730	700	690

The chart indicates that James Strath and Kawartha Heights between them provide about two-thirds of a total Crestwood population that has been only slightly declining in numbers over the years. The rest of the Crestwood students graduate directly from Millbrook/South Cavan, which is in turn fed by the tiny North Cavan, and from South Monaghan.

Our Trustee allocation chart tells us that the number of tax-payers in Cavan-Monaghan township increased only marginally between 2006 and 2010, while that of Otonabee-South Monaghan actually decreased by about half a percent per year. The chart above shows a corresponding steady drop in enrolment figures for all three rural schools. Given that the Ontario trend is toward higher population density in cities and lower density in rural areas, it’s not likely that this enrolment pattern is going to reverse any time soon, particularly in South Monaghan.

This year, South Monaghan’s enrolment has dropped to 107, or 55% of capacity, only enough for half a class per grade. KPR planners have noticed the trend, and in their 2010 accommodation report outlined the possibility of closing South Monaghan Public School and busing Bailieboro-area students up to Millbrook, North Shore in Keene, or even to Roger Neilson in Peterborough.

The situation at North Cavan and Millbrook is better. Although it’s unlikely that enrolment will increase, the current levels, at 85% and 90% respectively, are perfectly acceptable.

The “half-total” capacity of the five elementary schools is 820, about 100 less than Crestwood’s capacity – a ratio not quite as perfect as that of PCVS, but better than that at Adam Scott. Because Crestwood wasn’t part of the actual accommodation review, we don’t have estimated enrolment numbers for the future. However, projecting the “half-total” for 2009-10 ahead to 2014-15, we might expect about 730 students at Crestwood that year, about 78% of its capacity. This would be a significant drop from its current 95% level, but still acceptable. Moreover, we might expect enrolment at James Strath to be bolstered by new residential development around Parkhill west, which could keep enrolment at Crestwood up above 80%. 

As the Crestwood building is in reasonable shape, and four of its five feeder schools project to be reasonably well-attended in coming years, there’s no reason to make it the subject of an accommodation review.

However, South Monaghan will likely continue to be problematic. How important is the school to the people of Bailieboro? Do they want their kids sent up to Keene? What kind of condition is the building in? Is there any possibility of finding a community partner for the school space? These are questions that need to be answered by an accommodation review.

In conclusion, although the Crestwood network as a whole appears stable, we’ll name South Monaghan as the first school we’ve found that may need to be subject to an accommodation review.

In the next post, we’ll turn our attention to south-central Peterborough and the network of schools centered on Kenner Collegiate.

That ARC That Should Have Been, part four: PCVS and the Central-West

In the previous post, we ruled out the network of schools around Adam Scott CVI as needing an accommodation review. Now we’ll turn our gaze to the central and western parts of the city serviced by PCVS.

PCVS was built at the city center in 1908, just a few blocks from the Otonabee River at the northern edge of the commercial strip on George Street. Over the past century, the city has expanded steadily to the north and west of PCVS. Central Public School, the original PCVS feeder school located immediately north of the courthouse just east of what is now the police station, was closed down around the same time that KPR was formed, forcing downtown residents to truck their children all the way across the commercial core and beyond the boundaries of Town Ward altogether to attend Prince of Wales or Queen Mary on the west side of Monaghan Road. Highland Heights students, who live just east of Jackson Park and just north of Parkhill Road in the southwest corner of Northcrest, are also routed to PCVS, as are students living in the hospital area attending Westmount.

On the map below, I've also marked the Centre for Individual Studies, the de facto secondary school that KPR administrators conveniently left out of last year's accommodation review because it's a "hot potato." We'll look in detail at CIS, which KPR plans to relocate to the PCVS site next year, in a subsequent post.

Overall, we see that the area PCVS serves is roughly bordered by the GE plant to the south, the hospital to the west, Jackson Park, the Parkway trail and Parkhill Road to the north, and the river to the east. However, due to its central location, its Integrated Arts program, and the reputation it has earned as a lively, accepting place to grow, PCVS has continued to attract students from areas beyond, even from outside the city itself.

Let’s look at the PCVS network enrolment figures on the following chart. Unlike the situation in Northcrest, all of the PCVS feeder schools run JK-8. There are two French Immersion schools, Prince of Wales and Westmount. Immersion students who want to continue with the program in high school proceed to Adam Scott. Others opt to transfer to St. Peter’s. These losses to other networks are more than offset by the transfers into PCVS for the Arts program and by students seeking the PCVS atmosphere.

	cap.	KPR projections
		2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	appr.	per grade	classes
PCVS	846	834	822	706	651	589	539	95%	185
				820
(all JK-8)
Highland Heights	291	202	170	170				60%	17	1
Westmount (FI)	317	353	371	360				115%	45	2
Queen Mary	420	335	348	329				80%	33	2
Prince of Wales (FI)	613	392	414	446				75%	45	2
total elementary	1641	1282	1303	1305				80%	140	7
"half-total"	820	640	650	650

Note that the “half-total” capacity of the feeder schools is almost exactly the capacity of PCVS – a near-perfect fit. Prior to 2009-10, PCVS was over-capacity for many years running. The estimates provided by KPR administrators during the real accommodation review showed a precipitious decline in enrolment from 2011 to 2015 which was clearly unrealistic and designed to make PCVS appear to be a sinking ship.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, PCVS is nearly full up this year, with a hundred more students than KPR would have led us to believe would be enroled. The “half-total” elementary enrolment from 2009-10 projected forward to 2014-15 also shows the KPR projections to be too low by a hundred students.

Take a close look at the enrolment patterns for the feeder schools. Is their enrolment decreasing?

No! It increased from 1282 in 2009-10 to 1303 in 2010-11 to 1305 this year.

With a capacity of more than 600, Prince of Wales is one of the largest elementary schools in the city, surpassed in size only by James Strath. Even when its enrolment was at its lowest two years ago, it hosted more students than any other elementary school except for Strath and, for that one year, Edmison. Since then, enrolment has increased by more than fifty students. Even operating at 75% capacity, the school population is large by elementary standards. Given that Prince services a wide swath of lower-income areas and routinely deals with many children with behaviour problems and special needs, one wouldn’t want the student population to be much more than it is. Prince of Wales in many ways provides a model for PCVS, as its French Immersion program lures privileged and high-achieving children from the downtown core and “the Avenues” to mix with lower-income students, and the instrumental music program run by the indefatigable William Hamilton for many years provides a focus on co-operative creativity and discipline that has launched many graduates on to musical careers at PCVS and beyond, while maintaining a joyful spirit at the heart of challenging neighbourhood. 

Westmount, like Edmison Heights, continues to be overenroled due to the popularity of French Immersion, and the “portables” on site have long since become fixtures on the tarmac. Enrolment at Queen Mary is stable around 80% and shows no signs of changing.

The only school in the network that appears under-enroled is Highland Heights, which is currently operating at about 60% of its capacity of 291. Like its south-Northcrest neighbour Queen Elizabeth, some students from the area are drawn away by the French Immersion program at Edmison Heights. But even at 170 students, the school is able to provide one full class at each grade level. If enrolment were to drop below 150, near the 50% level, there might be cause for concern. However, as noted in the previous post, there is a new subdivision currently being constructed immediately north of the school, right across the Parkway trail. There are also plans for signficant expansion in the Fairbairn/Towerhill/Lily Lake area to the northwest of the school. Clearly, there will be no shortage of students for Highland Heights in the foreseeable future.

In sum, it is evident that the PCVS network of elementary schools is the right size with stable enrolment numbers that will likely only increase in the coming years with new residential development around Jackson Park and the increased density in the downtown core called for by the City plan and the province’s Places to Grow act. PCVS itself is perennially at capacity, and its reputation and success as a school only continues to climb.

The PCVS building itself was built to last, and over a hundred years after its construction it remains the most attractive in the neighbhourhood. Many renovations have been made in recent years, and its heritage qualities continue to inspire everyone who enters its doors to high levels of conduct and creativity. The location can’t be beat, as virtually anyone in the city can access the school directly through the City’s bus system with the terminal only a few blocks away. The school is within walking distance of 50% of Peterborough’s residences. Operating costs are the lowest of any of Peterborough’s secondary schools, and there are no grounds to maintain. Students make use of playing fields and courts within walking distance at Nicholl’s Oval, Bonnerworth, Simcoe-Bethune and Millenium parks. There are a dozen performance and gallery spaces within walking distance for the Arts students.

Conclusion? The PCVS neighbourhood school network makes sense in its current configuration with a stable enrolment pattern that will likely only trend upward in the coming years. Is there any reason for an accommodation review? Not a one.

In the next post we’ll take a look at Peterborough’s south-west neighbourhoods and Crestwood Secondary.