Parents in this community have formed a committee with the goal to have a Roman Catholic elementary school built here in a few years.
One of that group’s first moves is to conduct a survey of parents to determine their support for such a school, and to take the results to the school board this September.
Parent Cathy Kelly moved to Rockwood seven years ago, and said her son was the first in the subdivision to be picked up by school bus to be taken to St. Patrick school in Guelph. Now there are 18 children at his stop in front of her home, and several other stops in the area, too.
She said the Rockwood area now has three buses picking up children for St. Patrick, and believes the time is ripe for a local school.
Kelly said Rockwood’s population is exploding, and 140 Catholic students in elementary grades now travel to Guelph, and that number is likely to grow. She added there are also students from the rural area and from Eden Mills that might make a Rockwood school viable.
Kelly also noted that a number of students who could attend the Guelph Catholic school are going to Rockwood’s public school, and said that school’s board has faced boundary issues recently.
“Some [Catholic parents] send them to Rockwood schools to keep them local,” Kelly said.
C.N. Watson did a study of the township and school districts, and one of its recommendations was consideration of a Catholic school for Rockwood.
She said ideally that would mean from junior Kindergarten to grade 8, but she said she could understand if parents and students going into grade 7 at Rockwood public school would want to complete their elementary education there. She said that is why grades 7 and 8 could be phased in for the new Catholic elementary school.
The Watson study suggested a school for 250 students, but Kelly said at that size, it would likely contain portables.
Wellington Catholic District School Board Director of Education Don Drone said in an interview that the idea of a Catholic elementary school for Rockwood was under consideration over ten years ago. At that time, the board decided the population of Rockwood was too small, but the board “would keep its options open.”
Drone said, “We were aware and have been in the past few years, that there is a Catholic community interested in a school there,” he said of Rockwood.
He added that in general, the number of students determines if the board will build a school, and the board wants to be able to sustain those numbers for ten to 15 years at a minimum. Drone, too, noted the board accepted the C.N. Watson study, and that it included the possibility of a Rockwood school.
He said building an average sized school would cost between $5.5 and $6-million, and would also require approval of the Ministry of Education.
Drone noted, too, that St. Patrick School, in Guelph has been very viable because of the students attending from Rockwood. He added that the mix of rural and urban students has also showed positive benefits.
Drone said the effect on St. Patrick and other schools would also be considered by the board if it builds a school in Rockwood, and he is concerned about the “domino effect” a new school might have. He said trustees would also have to consider the effect on Holy Rosary school in Guelph.
Drone noted that Rockwood did not get a school a few years ago because it did not have enough students, but, “Things change,” and he noted Rockwood has been growing. “The board will seriously look at this,” he said.
He also pointed out that the board has used a building strategy that starts with a smaller school, with plans for additions as they are needed. He said Holy Trinity school in Guelph currently has portables because an addition will be built this summer, and portables are used for transitions. He added that the additions are planned and in place when a new school is built, and when they are complete, it would be difficult to tell the addition was not part of the original school.
When asked where such a school could be located, Kelly said the diocese has some land near the county library. She pointed out that when Charleston Homes was building in Rockwood, there was institutional land located behind her house on Bernardi Crescent, but when that land was rejected for a school several years ago, Charleston had the zoning changed to allow 300 homes.
Positive benefits
Kelly pointed out that her own children will be in high school before any new school will ever be built, but she sees numerous other advantages to a new school that have nothing to do with education.
“In Rockwood, we have a church, we have a parish, we have a community,” she said. We’d like to keep that together.”
She added that Rockwood can become more than a bedroom community with another school.
Kelly said with students staying in town, that could be a spur for numerous other activities in the community, and even attracting more industry.
She said the changes seem to be driven because “We’re talking the village of Rockwood growing like crazy.”
She said people moving to the community “are not retired people” and in her subdivision alone there are 30 to 40 children who do not yet attend school.
“We need … to have our school here,” she concluded. If we see we have the school system supporting growing families, we could easily handle an arena.”
And, she said, the township’s tax base can increase if infrastructure like a new school is in place.
“Other, larger companies … if we show growth, they’re going to want to come here.
She said the push is on, because, “You can’t have a school here in five years without starting now.
Drone said the board will be meeting with the committee this fall, and the process will be open to scrutiny by the community. He said that has been the method of operation whether the board is closing a school or considering opening a new one.
“It’s always been a transparent process,” he said.
The Rockwood school survey committee was started by Sacred Heart Parish with St. Peter’s Mission in Rockwood. It will gather information from several sources. The committee is working on behalf of families in the Rockwood area with children currently in – or soon to enter – the Catholic school system or in the public system who qualify for Catholic education.
The committee is asking families to indicate a commitment to send their children to a Catholic school in Rockwood in a brief letter or an email to Sacred Heart.
The mailing address is Sacred Heart Parish, 238 Main Street, Post Office Box 610, Rockwood, ON, N0B 2K0, or rcscommitment@cogeco.ca.
The committee asks to include contact information.
If anyone has questions regarding the committee wants more information, they can contact kelly at rcscommitment@cogeco.ca or coverings@sympatico.ca.
