Carlton Comprehensive High School opened their doors for the Grade 9 Showcase on Thursday.
The evening was a chance to hear from administration and see what the school has to offer in terms of programming, clubs, athletics and everything about the school.
Rylan Michalchuk one of the Vice Principals at Carlton explained that the administration presentation that opened the evening showed how a team will help students transition.
“We’ll give an overview of how we support students and families in our school by an advisor group and the team members that are part of that advisor group. When students start Grade 9 with us at Carlton, they get assigned a vice principal,” Michalchuk said.
The Vice Principals are either Michalchuk, Graham McGregor or Jodi Honch.
“And then within each advisor group, there’s a support team. So we have an academic advisor, we have a mentor, we have an inclusive education coach. And those people support you from Grade 9 until the time you graduate,” he explained.
Academic advisors included Adrienne Carlson, Chad Basaraba and Lindsay Strachan. He explained that if students have family at the school they also become part of the advisory group.
“If you have an older sibling that’s been in our school, then they’re put in that same advisory so that the vice principal and the families can be familiar with the same support team,”
He said that they also discussed what programming looks like for Grade 9 students in either the regular stream, French Immersion stream of Trach Sports Academy stream.
“So there’s kind of three streams. Students are also able to select band if they’re interested in band. So a lot of our feeder schools have band programs and those students will continue on in band. But if students are brand new to band, then our band teacher, Mrs. (Kayleigh) Skomorowski is very open to them starting in Grade 9 and learning new instruments,” Michalchuk said.
Michalchuk said that they also talked about clubs and sports. At Carlton there are over 30 clubs and 10 different sports programs.
“So we talk about when you’re in Grade 9, we encourage all of our students, but especially in Grade 9, if you join a club or a team, it’s a really good way to make new friends with similar interests from other schools. And to get to know our teachers too outside the classroom,” he said.
The presentation itself was around a half hour and afterwards people in attendance could either tour Carlton themselves or go on a self-guided tour.
“Throughout the school all the teachers are in their classrooms. We have some clubs set up to advertise what they’re all about, like our dance group, our Beam Team, our musical theatre and then we also have a basketball team practicing tonight,” Michalchuk said.
After the first group was completed, there was a second opportunity to view the presentation.
There was also a registration booth set up Thursday for families to register on the spot. There will also be two more general presentation on March 17 at 11:30 a.m. and March 19 at 2:15 p.m. in the Library.
People are also encouraged to register for their own tours.
“They can phone the school and they can request a tour date with an administrator or anybody that they know in the school community during school hours or after school hours. And so they just phone. The front office has set up a schedule for us and then we’ll reach out and connect,” Michalchuk said.”Okay, so you kind of can block out a time because you have your own time.”
Michalchuk said that there are several reasons why families should choose Carlton.
“The best part about our school is we offer any type of programming that you can think of. So there’s a place for everybody here. That’s a big selling feature. The facilities, all of our classrooms. Yeah, our shops, our gyms, our outdoor facilities is it’s really amazing and we yeah those would be the two main things for sure,” Michalchuk said.
Michalchuk was pleased with the crowd for the early session. He explained that the school had already met with the Grade 8 classes in Saskatchewan Rivers.
“We’ve advertised through their school communities, it gives parents an opportunity to come in and check them out,” Michalchuk said.
I’ve seen them on Facebook because I follow a lot of elementary schools and Carlton on Facebook.
Michalchuk said that he was happy the elementary schools in Saskatchewan Rivers used social media to promote the Grade 9 Showcase.
“That’s like another really cool thing about our school division is we work together as a team. We have a really strong transition plan in place where that first day of Grade 9, they can kind of hit the ground running and feel as comfortable as possible,” Michalchuk said, Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
The Carlton Crusaders Senior A Girls basketball team practiced in the CPAC Gym at Carlton Comprehensive High School during the Grade 9 Showcase on Thursday.
