InfoPEI

Schools

Children who reach the age of six years old on or before November of the year attending school are eligible. Students between the ages of seven and 16 must attend school. Students attend elementary school for Grades 1 through 6. Junior high schools educate students in Grades 7 through 9 while Island high schools offer education for students from Grades 10 through twelve. Almost all school-aged children in the province attend one of the 65 English language or five French language public schools. Approximately one per cent of children in the province attend one of the four privately operated schools. Parents also have the option of home schooling their children.

Prince Edward Island's public schools are operated by three elected school boards and are funded by the provincial government. As specified in the School Act [PDF File], school boards provide for instruction, management of personnel, facilities and the transportation of students. There are in excess of 3,365 computers in Island schools for 24,146 students. The student to computer ratio is approximately 7:1.

To determine which schools your child can attend, visit the Address Locator and by supplying your civic address you can determine which family of schools are available for your neighborhood. To register your child at one of these schools, contact the school directly.

Elementary school students study Math, Language Arts, Health, Social Studies, Family Living, Library, Music, Physical Education, and Core French. Most schools have their own web sites. Junior high students study the same subjects along with adding more speciality subjects such as industrial arts, home economics (such as cooking and sewing). At the high school level, students enjoy the option of selecting from a wide range of courses of additional courses such art, computer science, business, career exploration, social studies (geography, history, economics, law, political studies).

There are approximately 30 students in a typical school class. Students eat their lunch in their classroom or in the school cafeteria. There are many school events including sporting activities, along with band trips, trips to the Confederation Centre to see plays, music festivals to compete against other schools, field trips during the summer to local attractions and exchange trips with some other schools.

Students are not required to wear uniforms to school although most schools have a dress code concerning what can be worn. Students can also participate in intramural sports with other students as well as participate in school teams.

Students are not required to write entrance exams to enter high school.

What sorts of games do school children play?

Students play a number of games such as tag. They might also play a sport such as soccer. They also might play on the playground equipment that is provided.

What are school lunches like?

Students can either pack their own lunches or purchase a lunch through the school cafeteria if there is one. Students can have a sandwich, a sweet and a fruit in their lunch. Sometimes, classes may order pizza. The cafeteria may serve special foods on a certain day such as hot dog day. Some classes may have restrictions on foods children may take if there are severe food allergies in the classroom, i.e., peanut butter.

What kinds of homework do the students do?

Students are required to do such things as book reports, science experiments, and carry out special projects related to the course subject.

How long do they study each day?

How long they study depends on the student, the grade and the assigned homework.

When are school vacations?

Students are off from the end of June to early September to enjoy their summer vacations. They also have two weeks off during Christmas and one week off during the month of March.

How do kids get to school?

Most students are bussed to school while others who live close by either walk or take their bicycle to school.

At what time does school begin and end?

Different schools have different times but usually classes begin somewhere between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

Do students learn other languages?

Students have the option of learning french through french immersion which involves students taking all of their subjects in french up to Grade 6. Students may also take classes to learn french.

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