Kaawaate East City Public School

November 9, 2023

Dear Kaawaate East City Public School Families, 

At KPRDSB, we continue to experience significant growth across our schools in the City and County of Peterborough. While we are pleased that our schools continue to be a destination of choice for families, our growth within schools has been uneven. This has led to critical overcrowding in some schools and extra space in others. 

We are beginning a broad review of secondary and elementary school boundaries and family of school groupings in the new year to identify long-term strategies to manage this growth, but we need to manage immediate enrolment pressures at Kaawaate East City PS for next school year. 

Kaawaate East City PS is forecasted to be at 125% of existing capacity for September 2024, with 847 expected students in the school, and capacity for only 675 students.

These space challenges are expected to continue over the next 10 years.

As part of our response to this issue, school board administration presented to the Board’s Resource Committee meeting last evening an initial plan that recommends changes for some students, and we wanted to share this with impacted families.

Beginning in September 2024, Kaawaate East City PS would change from a Junior Kindergarten (JK) – Grade 8 dual track school, to a JK – Grade 6 dual-track school, and Grades 7-8 English stream. Grade 7-8 French Immersion students from Kaawaate East City PS will attend Adam Scott Intermediate School effective September 2024.

This measure will provide needed space at Kaawaate East City PS in the short-term as we establish longer term accommodation approaches for the schools in the City and County of Peterborough.

We recognize that change for students and families can be challenging, and we will be reviewing this proposal with families prior to a final decision by the Board at the January 23, 2024 Board meeting.

Parents/caregivers are invited to join us to learn more on Thursday, November 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Kaawaate East City PS.

Further information, including enrolment projections, the Questions and Answers document and related information is available below.

We appreciate your interest in helping us make the best possible choices for the students we serve and appreciate your continued support of our school communities. 

Sincerely,

James Brake
Superintendent of Education

Questions and Answers
Background Information
November 23 Meeting Presentation

Online ThoughtExchange

To share feedback and questions about the proposed changes at Kaawaate ECPS, families are invited to participate in an online ThoughtExchange by December 10, 2023. 

Your input is valued and appreciated. Please keep your feedback respectful. Disrespectful or identifying comments will be removed.

Quick Tips:

• Enter as many thoughts as you wish into the Exchange. Try to share one distinct idea per thought

• Your thoughts will be shared with other participants, but not your identity.

• You will see and rate thoughts that others have shared. 5 stars = strongly agree, 1 star = strongly disagree.

• You do not need to rate all thoughts, though it’s recommended to rate at least 30.