…Petite Riviere Elem is a jewel in the system.

Dear Anna Maria,
Thank you for taking on the topic of small school closures. Across this country, small schools–often the backbone of their rural communities–are crushing under the gavel. I have a unique perspective of this issue. The impending school closure I draw your attention to is Petite Riviere Elementary, in Petite Riviere Lunenburg Co. NS. . My experience with this school may shed more light on the gravity of this situation and its affect on rural Canada at large.

In the early 70’s I taught my first year of teaching and then retired. I had found the educational system in NS not child-friendly. Just before heading off to art school in Mexico my mate, artist Gregg Tracey and I stayed in Petite Riviere where artists Don Pentz and John Cook were giving an intensive art course at—you guessed it–Petite Riviere elementary. People came from around the province to attend. Petite was already, at that time, a centre for the arts.

When we returned to NS we settled in the Petite school area. 15 years later, as my son was approaching school age I began to check out the school system to see if it might be a good place for Tim to attend. I was, in fact, so delighted in the innovation and high creativity alive in that school, I rejoined teaching and began my true teaching career. Tim attended Petite for 7 years over which time the rich arts curriculum along with innovations in all areas of learning helped him along his path of becoming an international award-winning independent filmmaker.

I loved teaching. I loved that school: its parents; its grandparents; its staff and most of all, its kids. As a term teacher, my position at Petite was not secure. A number of times I was sent to other schools to fill vacancies. I got a good look around the system and saw many good schools and dedicated teachers. I worked hard to settle in and do my best but my heart was always called back to Petite. During one year at Petite, I even turned down a permanent position so I could stay in this small community school where the community truly trusted me with their children. It was risky to turn down a permanent job, especially when teachers were being laid off, but it was the only thing my heart would allow. And, it turns out–it was a good decision. That next year was my best yet: I was going into my 4th year in a row of teaching Grade Primary/Kindergarten at Petite. I had reached the place where I had at least one parent in my classroom every morning––all morning––5 days a week. This was incredible! Extra hands and hearts available to the children; mothers, fathers–even grandparents really learning about how kids learn; and a new writing program thriving. I had for several years taken on writing in the Primary Classroom as my greatest challenge. I was convinced that kids who could speak from their hearts could write from their hearts. That special year allowed me to stretch my limits and study my kids and how they were approaching the task of writing. They began to teach me what they needed to be successful. By the end of that year, all children were expressing their hearts at their own developmental level, with help as needed–and they saw themselves as writers with a voice! Had I not been there, in that school with that dedication to innovation and community support I have no doubt I would have failed to reach that level of teaching.

And there was another gift from my experiences at Petite: my own creativity and my optimism soared. I realized that any learning problems were already well engrained by the time a child was 5. I knew I had to go back to the beginning and prevent these problems. The more I considered this the more exciting it got. The fact is Petite Riviere Elem planted the seeds in my heart for a book which would not only help parents along their challenging path but it could also prevent the learning, behavioural, relationship and/or health challenges that 25% of Primary students arrive with. In 2013 my book was published.
What my writer’s voice needs to say now, loud and clear is that Petite Riviere Elem is a jewel in the system. There are many good schools here in Lunenburg. Co. but there has, for decades, been a special flair for creativity, innovation and mind expansion at this school.

The Ivany Report, a report on what’s going wrong in NS and how to turn things around “emphasizes the need for more vibrant private sector growth to strengthen rural communities. It is important also to recognize the essential role of the public sector in providing good quality and widely available health, education, and other public services, so that depopulation of our rural areas can be stabilized”. (http://www.wechoosenow.ca/overview/)

Well, Petite Riviere Elementary is doing just that! For a number of years, young people are moving into the Petite school district from across Canada for the lifestyle––and the school. I have never seen so many new babies in a rural area!  Also, organic farmers are being supported by this community resulting in an excellent local food system.

Petite Parents highly support their school in ways a school board could only dream of. I believe Ray Ivany would consider this school a gem–proof of what is possible when a community and its school nurture the strengths and gifts of their children and create a world with a very positive future. Rather than closing this school and damaging its thriving community (did I sat thriving–in rural NS? YES! I did!) we should be doing two things: protecting it and learning from it.

[There is a fascinating political story behind this story revealing that the NS Dept. of Education is willing to provide $6 million for renovations but the school board refuses to ask for it. I have attached a link to recent articles on this situation to inform you:  http://petiteforthefuture.ca/in-the-news/]

Thanks for reading this.
Nancy Tracey
author of The First Five Years, Nurturing Your Child’s Ability to Learn http://brunswickbooks.ca/First-Five-Years/