Pre-primary program expands to 23 more schools in HRM

Twenty three schools in the Halifax Regional Centre for Education are among 56 in the province that will be adding a pre-primary program this September.

This brings the total number of Nova Scotian schools offering pre-primary to 201.

The $10.2-million expansion in year three of the four-year rollout includes 84 new classrooms and the province anticipates 1,400 four-year-olds will now be able to enrol.
    
“This is a program that families want in their communities and we are one year away from being able to give every four-year-old in the province the opportunity to participate,” said Zach Churchill, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development in a news release.

So far the province has spent $34.2-million on the program that has seen more than 3,000 children signed-up for the current school year.

Lisa Conway's son Hunter was one fo the first kids to go to pre-primary when it was launched in 2017 at Spryfield's Rockingstone Heights Elementary.

“Since he completed pre-primary, what I've noticed is that his vocabulary has improved greatly,” said Conway. “I would recommend the program to other families because it helps children become more social and they learn to co-operate with each other at a younger age.”

The Education Department says it will have to hire around 224 more early childhood educators to support the new classrooms, bringing the total needed for the program next year to more than 400.

Pre-primary has already been fully implemented at Conseil scolaire acadien provincial schools.

Families who live near a school offering pre-primary can contact the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial or their Regional Centre for Education to register.

A full list of schools offering pre-primary in Halifax Regional Municipality:
* New location

Halifax Regional Centre for Education:

• Sunnyside Elementary School in Bedford *
• Admiral Westphal Elementary School in Dartmouth
• Alderney Elementary School in Dartmouth *
• Bicentennial School in Dartmouth
• Brookhouse Elementary in Dartmouth
• Caldwell Road Elementary School in Dartmouth*
• Colby Village Elementary School in Dartmouth
• George Bissett Elementary in Dartmouth
• Harbour View Elementary School in Dartmouth
• Hawthorn Elementary School in Dartmouth *
• Humber Park Elementary School in Dartmouth
• John MacNeil Elementary School in Dartmouth *
• Mount Edward Elementary School in Dartmouth *
• Robert K. Turner Elementary School in Dartmouth *
• South Woodside School in Dartmouth
• Dutch Settlement Elementary School in Dutch Settlement
• Tallahassee Community School in Eastern Passage *
• Oldfield Consolidated School in Enfield *
• Burton Ettinger Elementary School in Halifax*
• Central Spryfield Elementary in Halifax
• Chebucto Heights Elementary in Halifax
• Duc d'Anville Elementary School in Halifax *
• Elizabeth Sutherland in Halifax*
• Fairview Heights Elementary in Halifax
• Grosvenor-Wentworth Park Elementary in Halifax
• Inglis Street Elementary School in Halifax
• Joseph Howe Elementary School in Halifax
• LeMarchant-St. Thomas Elementary in Halifax *
• Rockingham Elementary School in Halifax *
• Rockingstone Heights School in Halifax
• Saint Mary's Elementary School in Halifax *
• Sir Charles Tupper Elementary School in Halifax
• St. Catherine's Elementary School in Halifax *
• St. Joseph Alexander McKay Elementary School in Halifax
• St. Stephen's Elementary School in Halifax
• Springvale Elementary School in Halifax
• Harrietsfield Elementary School in Harrietsfield *
• William King Elementary School in Herring Cove
• East St. Margaret's Elementary in Indian Harbour
• Bell Park Academic Centre in Lake Echo *
• Atlantic View Elementary School in Lawrencetown *
• Caudle Park Elementary School in Lower Sackville *
• Cavalier Drive School in Lower Sackville *
• Hillside Park Elementary School in Lower Sackville
• Millwood Elementary School in Lower Sackville *
• Sycamore Lane Elementary School in Lower Sackville
• Musquodoboit Valley Education Centre in Middle Musquodoboit
• Nelson Whynder Elementary School in North Preston
• Oyster Pond Academy in Oyster Pond
• O'Connell Drive Elementary School in Porters Lake *
• Atlantic Memorial-Terence Bay School in Prospect
• Sambro Elementary School in Sambro
• Duncan Macmillan High School in Sheet Harbour
• Atlantic Memorial-Terence Bay School in Terence Bay
• Upper Musquodoboit Consolidated School in Upper Musquodoboit
• Ross Road School in Westphal

Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP):

• École Beaubassin in Bedford
• École Bois-Joli in Dartmouth
• École Mer et Monde in Halifax
• École des Beaux-Marais in Porters Lake
• École du Grand-Portage in Sackville