Charlottetown intermediate school gearing up for new students

A Charlottetown intermediate schoolis getting ready to welcome hundreds of new students next fall.

Birchwood Intermediate School is expecting 470new students will start at the school in September, up from just over 200 new students last year.

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According to Ron Carragher, the school's principal, only 60 of those new students are a result of the recent rezoning.

Transition team to prepare

Carragher said even though thenumber of new Birchwood students impacted by rezoning is small, the school is still receiving lots ofquestions on the matterfrom concerned parents.

"It's continuing to be everyday thatthere's questions from the various stakeholders," he said.

Carragher added his school has been working with a transition team to help prepare for the growth. Carragher also said Birchwood is actively consulting with parents.

Open house

As part of its effort to accommodate the new students and their parents,Birchwood is hosting an open house at the school on Thursday evening.

Carragher said the event is meant to help parents alleviatesome of the concerns that may come with sending a child to junior high.

"We certainly realize the anxieties are real," he said.

When asked whether all those new students will mean additional teaching positions for Birchwood, Carragher said the school is still in the process of determining its final staffing numbers.

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