DEH CHO
Most of the Deh Cho's communities continue to offer junior kindergarten for four-year-olds and will continue to do so, in the wake of an independent review released by the territorial government last month.

The combination of junior kindergarten and kindergarten at Bompas Elementary School means students are in a class of 25. Some of those junior kindergarten students are seen here. In the back, from left, are Alayna Tale, Ava Crawley-Blauel, Rebecca Mullin-Nowdlak and Tyrell Cook-Gargan. In the front row, from left, are Nateyaa Tanche, Isabell Konisenta, Jaxsin Martineau and James Wyatt-Gargan. - April Hudson/NNSL photo

The review report, conducted by Proactive Information Services, was completed in September but was released to the public on Jan. 28.

Recommendations from the report include expanding the program in a way that takes into account the needs of each individual community, as well as providing more professional development opportunities to junior kindergarten teachers.

Currently in the Deh Cho, junior kindergarten programming remains in most communities, with the exception of Fort Providence, Jean Marie River and Trout Lake.

At the beginning of 2015, Fort Providence dropped junior kindergarten in favour of its Aboriginal Head Start program. Fort Providence is the only Deh Cho community that had such a program, according to Dehcho Divisional Education Council superintendent Terry Jaffray

This year, Jean Marie River did not have any junior kindergarten-aged children.

In Trout Lake, however, junior kindergarten did not move forward for the 2015-16 school year because of enrolment pressures on the school, said Jaffray. She said as the only school in the Deh Cho that has seen its enrolment grow, Trout Lake's Charles Tetcho School has more than 20 students in it currently without adding junior kindergarten to the mix.

Meanwhile, junior kindergarten remains in Nahanni Butte, Kakisa, Wrigley, Fort Liard and Fort Simpson.

Fort Simpson offered a separate junior kindergarten class in 2014-15 but combined the class with the kindergarten class in September 2015 in order to be able to afford the program. The combined class currently has 25 students and the junior kindergarten portion is offered half-time.

Fort Liard also has a blended class, which Jaffray said has about 12 students in it right now.

Kelley Andrews-Klein, principal of Fort Simpson's Bompas Elementary School, wrote in an e-mail the decision to move junior kindergarten to half-time was made due to funding cuts, which resulted in the loss of one classroom teacher, combined with a lack of junior kindergarten funds being provided.

"We are waiting for funding decisions that will be made in the next few months before any decisions are made (on the future of the program)," Andrews-Klein stated when asked if the school would continue to offer junior kindergarten.

"The school and (district education authority) will make an informed decision once we have all the information to do so."

The question of funding is one each Deh Cho school is grappling with. Jaffray said concern over finances is linked to enrolment.

"Our budget's really tight because our enrolment has been declining for the last five years. Every year, we have less money," she said.

While schools wait to see what the government's education budget will look like, Jaffray said the education council is moving forward with the funding formulas and numbers from last year.

"Right now, we're thinking we'll continue with our junior kindergarten programs and plan for those children to be in the schools and carry forward," she said.

Jaffray said one of the things that struck her about the independent review of junior kindergarten was how favourable it was toward not only the program but other early childhood programming as well.

"Those early development indicators tell us that a lot of our kids coming into school aren't ready and they're what we call vulnerable, which means we found they were lower in their scores to the point where there's concern. In smaller communities, that indicator told us it's even more of a concern," she said.

The review states indicator results between 2012 and 2014 showed about 38 per cent of NWT children fell into the "vulnerable" category. That number was 53 per cent in small communities.

"When you look at it that way, having an early childhood program is good because it supports kids and it allows them to catch up in some areas where they might have been weakened," Jaffray said.

She said it's important to remember one size doesn't fit all when it comes to communities in the NWT, especially ones with multi-grade classes.

"It's a bit of a challenge that way because they usually have one person and an assistant. It's a lot of work to do play-based (programming)," Jaffray said.

"All those things have to be worked out. I think that in the end, probably three to five years from now, people will have early childhood programming - but it will look different in every single place you go."

Addressing a recommendation from the report for more teacher training, Jaffray said the council recognizes there needs to be more work done in developing activities for younger children to make a smooth transition from home to school.

As far as small communities go, Jaffray said the education council is already in the midst of addressing pressures at Charles Tetcho school to ensure junior kindergarten is a possibility moving forward.

The school is set to undergo renovations over the next couple years, which will double the amount of space in the classroom.