Latest news with #GrantParkHighSchool
CBC
9 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Grant Park High School graduates share their hopes, dreams and ambitions
Nerves, excitement, hopes and dreams filled the air as 205 graduating students of Grant Park High School in Winnipeg received their diplomas on Thursday.
Winnipeg Free Press
30-04-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Grant Park removes advanced-placement test due to student stress
Manitoba's largest school division has removed a rare entry exam used to sort graduating elementary students into different academic streams. Grant Park High School had asked incoming students to take the test at the end of Grade 6 to determine whether they could register in its advanced program. Principal Jamie Hutchison said an overhaul at Grant Park, which operates both a middle years wing and grades 9 to 12 courses, was initiated in response to concerns about students' well-being. Hutchison said he and his colleagues started noticing 'ever-increasing levels of anxiety' among students from feeder schools when in-person classes resumed after the initial COVID-19 disruptions. 'The testing piece and the anxiety associated with that was extremely troubling to us as educators, post-pandemic,' he said. Hutchison described the pre-registration assessment on the campus, located at 450 Nathaniel St., as 'high stakes.' Eleven and 12-year-old test-takers had to meet a specific and undisclosed threshold to secure a seat outside the general entry program at Grant Park. At the time, their three options were general, flexible or 'flex,' as its known among students, and advanced Grade 7. Flex was made for students who are self-motivated and excel at group projects. Advanced was created for those interested in studying subjects in-depth and at an accelerated pace. (The advanced stream is different from Advanced Placement, an internationally recognized program that is offered later on in a student's career at Grant Park and allows them to earn university-level credits. It is not an official prerequisite for AP, although both are for independent students seeking academic enrichment.) Grant Park administration has combined the general and flex streams ahead of the 2025-26 school year. They had become increasingly similar in recent years, with emphasis on student inquiry, project-based learning and interdisciplinary education, Hutchison said. Also new for next year is the ability for families to choose their preferred stream — as is the status quo elsewhere in the Winnipeg School Division. 'When we place students and we categorize them, that can create some negative self-images and that can be very detrimental,' said Matt Henderson, superintendent of the division responsible for roughly 30,000 students in inner-city and central Winnipeg. Henderson said this change at Grant Park — an outlier in WSD in that the school ran these point-in-time tests until recently — marks a new era. 'Parents are the experts of their children and we want the kids to have agency, too, and determine what type of learning environment they would like – and I think that's recognized as good practice throughout North America and that's something we fully endorse,' he said. There are no such exams required to enter French immersion, vocational schools or other options, the superintendent noted. Michael Holden, an assistant professor of education at the University of Winnipeg, questioned why students need to be streamed, be it via test or their personal choice, so early. Holden cited 2012 recommendations from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that warned against grouping students before 'upper secondary.' Early selection has a negative impact on students assigned to lower-level academic tracks and exacerbates inequities because children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be placed in them, per the report. 'It worries me – asking parents to make that decision if they don't know the long-term consequences of those choices,' said Holden, who researches classroom assessment at U of W. The academic said he's curious what data, if any, WSD has on graduates from general and flex moving onto high-level academic courses and post-secondary education. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
