Friday, February 7th, 2025

Clearview elementary school students at Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in Angus will likely still graduate to Jean Vanier Catholic High School in Collingwood next year, pending the results of a boundary review by the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.

During the boundary review, the School Board proposed routing Our Lady of Grace students to St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School in Barrie, instead of Vanier in Collingwood, next year.

However, Creemore parents should not be concerned, Lonnie Bolton, Superintendent of Education – Secondary Schools, told the Echo.

He said the School Board is also considering making Our Lady of Grace a “split-feeder school,” meaning that children from Clearview would continue to go to Jean Vanier from Our Lady of Grace, while children from Angus would be routed to St. Joan in Barrie.

“The new boundaries will be grandfathered in,” said Bolton. This means that students who are already enrolled at Jean Vanier in Collingwood will not need to change schools.

About 40 children from Creemore, New Lowell and Glencairn attend the Angus Catholic school.

The boundary review is part of the Catholic School Board’s goal to merge the elementary school populations of Our Lady of Grace, Prince of Peace School on Base Borden in Angus and Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School in New Lowell due to dwindling enrollment, Bolton said.

Prince of Peace and Our Lady of the Assumption schools closed in 2013. Children from both schools now attend Our Lady of Grace.

The School Board held Open Houses for parents at the end of January. Parents and students have been encouraged to provide feedback about the changes through an online survey and at Boundary Review Committee meetings.

“We had a really good turnout,” said Bolton. “We had almost a 100% of input from families. I’m confident that parents have been informed along the way to provide input.”

The last Boundary Review Committee meeting was held on Monday, February 10. Next, the Board will make its recommendations to its Board of Trustees on Wednesday, March 5. The Committee has a final deadline of Wednesday, March 26 to incorporate feedback and make its final recommendations to the Board, who will make a decision after that date.

Parents who would like to provide more feedback should call the Board at 705-722-3555.

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