When parents open their children’s report cards in early December, they’re going to look a little different.

School District 53 decided to implement the Ministry of Education’s draft K-9 Student Reporting Policy, allowing each school to individually choose if and how to implement it.

All elementary schools in the district have decided to take on the policy, Superintendent Beverly Young told the district’s Education Committee at their Wednesday meeting last week.

“We’ve asked schools to work with their parents around what they can expect,” she said.

The policy includes a four-point proficiency scale where students are marked as emerging, developing, proficient or extending, instead of the traditional letter grade system.

It also requires that parents receive a minimum of five reports annually: four points of progress throughout the year and a summary of progress report at the end of the year.

In Oliver, both Tuc-el-Nuit and Oliver Elementary schools will use the new proficiency scale for all grades in place of letter grades.

Osoyoos Elementary School and Okanagan Falls Elementary School will also adopt the new system for all grades, Cawston Primary School will only use it for Grade 4, and Similkameen Elementary School in Keremeos has not yet decided, but is planning to use it in Grade 5, and possibly Grade 6.

YouLearn schools in Oliver, Osoyoos and Keremeos will use the policy for kindergarten to Grade 7 and are considering including Grades 8 and 9 as well.

Oliver Elementary School Principal Jason McAllister told the committee that the transition has gone “very well.”

The school has had several meetings with its PAC, sent home multiple newsletters, and McAllister is putting together an information package that will be emailed to parents three weeks before report cards go out, as well as one-page document included with the report card.

“So far, it’s been very smooth, but that first report card will be the true teller because it looks different to a lot of parents and if they haven’t been looking at the emails or newsletters, they might have some questions.”

School District 53 is one of 46 districts, out of 60, that are working with the new policy, expected to be adopted province-wide before September of 2019.

VANESSA BROADBENT

Regional Reporter