Enrolment hits record high in London as TVDSB pitches to build as many as 8 new schools
CBC
Thousands of London area students are back in class today ushering in the start of a new school year that will see more students than ever before enrolled in the region's public system.
Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) director Mark Fisher was on hand at the newly renamed Forest City Public School in the city's east-end when the first bell rang.
"Student enrolment is up again after 10 years of steady decline. This is the fifth consecutive year of growth," Fisher said. "We've gained over 6,000 students in the last four years."
The TVDSB won't have official numbers until November, but it estimates enrolment has reached 85,000.
Unlike the London District Catholic School Board, and other boards across Ontario, the TVDSB is in a good position with teacher hires, Fisher said. But what continues to be a challenge is space.
"We have four new schools that are currently approved and will be under construction, and we're going to apply for another six to eight new schools," Fisher said.
Meantime, many students could barely contain their excitement, running around the playground before teachers lined them up and ushered them into the building Wednesday morning.
Destiny Tansy's daughter Enya, 6, was so stoked to start the day, she jumped on her mom this morning to get her out of bed.
"She's been very jittery and just randomly running up to me, hugging me, squeezing me and screaming about how excited she was," Tansy said.
Jnai Kurtneigh Grace Ferguson, 12, is starting Grade 8. Though she enjoyed spending the summer with her family and catching up on her sleep, she was starting to get antsy at home.
"I love my sleep but I also miss my friends so I'm glad to be back," she said.
This year's student cohort at Forest City Public School will be the first to go all year calling it by that name after it changed in March from F.D. Roosevelt Public School.
The school was renamed because of Roosevelt's historical connection to racism and controversial approach to Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, board members said in a statement at the time.
"It gives us a fresh start and lets the kids know that they were part of making the change," said Barbara McAllister, principal at Forest City Public School.
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