May 14, 2020,
Our school system is growing and we are experiencing growth in our Pre-Primary and elementary school grades. To support this growth, effective September 2020, we are expanding Maple Grove to become a Grade 6 to 8 school, in line with most middle schools in the province. This change will benefit Grade 6 students with additional social, learning, and extra-curricular activities.
The Tri-County Regional Centre for Education (TCRCE) is reorganizing the grade levels at Carleton, Meadowfields, Plymouth, Port Maitland, and Yarmouth Elementary, as well as at Maple Grove. The grade configurations will become:
| School | Current Configuration | Reconfiguration September 2020 |
| Carleton Consolidated School | PP (pre-primary)-6 | PP-5 |
| Meadowfields Community School | PP-6 | PP-5 |
| Plymouth Consolidated School | PP-6 | PP-5 |
| Port Maitland Consolidated School | PP-6 | PP-5 |
| Yarmouth Elementary School | PP-6 | PP-5 |
| Maple Grove Education Centre | 7-8 | 6-8 |
*Please note PP stands for Pre-Primary.
The reorganization has several benefits for our students. It will allow for Pre-Primary students to stay at their home elementary schools and for those Pre-Primary spaces to be used for their intended purpose. Pre-Primary students will not experience increased transportation times that would occur if the school remained P-6 and Pre-Primary was moved. Maple Grove will become a grades 6-8 school, which is a very common grade configuration for a Middle School in Nova Scotia. This will assist MGEC in networking with other grades 6-8 schools across the province. It will also provide grade 6 students the opportunity to be in a Middle School environment, which increases opportunities for co-curricular and extracurricular activities. Most importantly, it will allow all grade 6s in the MGEC feeder schools to be a cohort, which will assist in building social cohesion and belonging.
Between now and the end of the school year, staff from TCRCE will work with our School Advisory Councils and school communities to plan for a smooth transition as we consider important questions such as the leaving celebrations for grade 6 and grade 5 students. A transition committee is being formed to receive input on matters related to transitioning students to middle school.
Please look forward to regular communication from the transition committee. We will also share information on both the TCRCE and school websites, and on our social media channels.
If you have questions or concerns around this, please either call the main TCRCE line at (902) 749-5696 or email us at feedback@tcrce.ca .
Best regards,
Dr. Chris Boulter
Regional Executive Director, TCRCE
