The province’s pre-primary program has expanded with the edition of 130 new classes starting this fall.
The South Shore will be home to eight of those classes, including one class at Petite Riviere Elementary School.
Barbara West, chair of the Petite Riviere School Advisory Council, says that’s welcome news for the community.
“As a community that’s growing, we’ve got a lot of families that have been moving to the area and having a pre-primary program there enables families to be able to leave home and go to work and know that their kids are going to be cared for in a play-based environment.”
The SAC has been advocating for one for a while.
West says the move gives her a positive feeling about the future of the community and school.
“It’s great for rural communities because then we can bring younger people to the area, children who are learning and people who are earning income.”
West says since the judicial review saw the decision to close the school overturned, they’ve seen interest in families coming to the community.
Mark Furey, MLA for Lunenburg-West, which covers Petite Riviere, also welcomed the news.
“I look forward to the positive impact it will have on children in these communities here on the South Shore,” says Furey.
The pre-primary class rolls out in September along with ones in seven other South Shore schools including North Queens Community School, Hebbville Academy, Dr. John C. Wickwire Academy, Bayview Community School, Newcombille Elementary School, Centre Scolaire de la Rive-Sud, and Pentz Elementary School.
Prior to the announcement, the only government run pre-primary classes were located at Chester District Elementary School, New Germany Elementary, and West Northfield Elementary.
The province aims to expand the pre-primary program to be available to all four year olds in Nova Scotia by 2020.
