Zoning Changes - Charlottetown High Schools
Charlottetown Rural & Colonel Gray Zoning Changes for September 2027, with the opening of Stratford High School
The Public Schools Branch is seeking input on zoning changes for Charlottetown Rural and Colonel Gray High Schools.
With over 600 students from the Stratford and Donagh school zones moving from Charlottetown Rural High School to the new Stratford High School when it opens in September 2027, there is an opportunity to balance enrolment between Charlottetown Rural and Colonel Gray. By having some students rezoned to Charlottetown Rural, this would mean a decrease to the population of Colonel Gray Senior High and thus create a better balance and allow both schools space to grow, given the population growth in the Charlottetown area.
In reassigning a number of students from Colonel Gray to Charlottetown Rural or changing other feeder school pathways, the aim (where possible) is to keep students together as a group from elementary to intermediate to high school while having students attend the schools located closest to home.
The Challenge
The Public Schools Branch is looking for options in rezoning some of the elementary and/or intermediate schools so that there is an improved balance of student populations at Charlottetown Rural and Colonel Gray. A review of the data table found below will show 628 students (Stratford plus Donagh schools) enroling at Stratford High School, with over 1,300 students to redistribute between Charlottetown Rural and Colonel Gray.
**It should be noted that the students in Late French Immersion at the three intermediate schools would use their home addresses to determine which high school they should attend for Grades 10-12. For example, a student from the Donagh area who attended Stonepark for Gr 7-9 Late French Immersion would be zoned for Stratford High for Grades 10-12.
DATA: Official Enrolments as of September 30, 2024
Enrolment by school area with current intermediate Grades 7, 8 and 9 who will be in Grades 10, 11 and 12 in 2027
Options That Were Considered
In considering various possibilities for accommodating the high school population shift of over 600 students moving to Stratford High School from Charlottetown Rural High School and the opportunity to improve the balance of student populations between the two Charlottetown high schools, the existing zones at each elementary and intermediate high school were examined to determine if there were possibilities of moving “whole” student groups from one catchment area to another. Underlying these searches were two guiding principles: (1) keeping students together as a group as much as possible in moving from one level of schooling to another and (2) trying to find the “closest” school (geographically) for their attendance.
Example 1: could all English program students (232) from West Royalty be relocated to Charlottetown Rural as it would be geographically closer to Charlottetown Rural than their current high school, Colonel Gray? Such a move could keep the Grade K-6 English program classmates together through intermediate and eventually Grades 10-12 at CRHS. A problem with this solution is to determine which intermediate school would they attend – if Queen Charlotte as at present, they would join the French Immersion students (160) from their same neighbourhoods at Queen Charlotte but then separate from their intermediate classmates from Spring Park, West Kent and St. Jean as they moved onto high school. If they moved to Stonepark for Grades 7-9, they would not accompany their neighbourhood French Immersion friends to high school as they move along to Colonel Gray. If the French Immersion students from the West Royalty catchment area moved to Stonepark and Charlottetown Rural with their English program classmates from either Queen Charlotte or Stonepark, the numbers would be too large at CHRS once combined with the students from L. M. Montgomery and Sherwood Elementary. In any event, moving the students (English program or both English and French Immersion) to Stonepark is not possible at this time due to capacity limitations.
Example 2: could the residential areas surrounding Charlottetown Rural High School be rezoned from the current Colonel Gray to the Rural? While this would undoubtedly allow more students to walk to high school instead of being bussed to Colonel Gray, such a plan would cause significant challenges in determining where to draw the new boundaries to secure sufficient numbers of students (approximately 200 students) to make the change a viable modification of zones – perhaps Capital Drive south to Belvedere and University Avenue west to edge of the water/Ellen’s Creek) plus Lewis Point/Maypoint . Also, as these areas might be served by both West Royalty Elementary (English program) and/or Spring Park Elementary 8 (English and French Immersion) together with Queen Charlotte Intermediate, students would be separated from their peers upon entering the two high schools.
Example 3: what about the current feeder system between intermediate schools and the two high schools? Why do students from Stonepark Intermediate attend two different high schools? In keeping with the desire to keep peer groups together where possible and not changing any elementary feeder arrangements at this time, this scenario is deemed to be a preferred option for making changes. Stonepark Intermediate students from L. M. Montgomery (308) and Sherwood (173) currently attend Charlottetown Rural while students from Parkdale (82), Prince Street – Hillsborough (43) and St. Jean – Hillsborough (21) attend Colonel Gray. Prince Street – downtown (62) currently attend Birchwood Intermediate and then Colonel Gray. By rezoning the Birchwood Intermediate students to Charlottetown Rural and adding the students from Parkdale, Prince Street and St Jean – Hillsborough, CRHS would gain 208 students to have a total of 689 while Colonel Gray would have 650. These numbers would allow space at both schools for the growing enrolments identified in their respective catchment areas.
Recommendations
Recommendation #1: Effective September 2027, it is recommended that all high school students residing in the Donagh and Stratford catchment areas attend Stratford High School for Grades 10-12.
Recommendation #2: Effective September 2027, it is recommended that all students who attended Birchwood Intermediate and Stonepark Intermediate attend Charlottetown Rural Senior High for Grades 10-12.
Recommendation #3: Effective September 2027, it is recommended all students coming from Queen Charlotte Intermediate attend Colonel Gray High School for Grades 10-12.
Recommendation #4: It is recommended that all students completing the Late French Immersion at Birchwood Intermediate, Queen Charlotte Intermediate or Stonepark Intermediate attend Grades 10-12 at the high school designated for their home address.
How To Provide Feedback On Recommendations
Next Steps
The Public Schools Branch Board of Trustees will seek feedback on the provided recommendations, including a public information meeting on May 6, 2025 at 7pm in the Charlottetown Rural cafeteria.