Several hundred children are registered to begin kindergarten this fall in the Garden Valley School Division.  Superintendent Vern Reimer says during early registration in February, 303 students were enrolled.

Reimer said, typically, 90% of kindergarten registration takes place in February, and 303 works out to 94% of the board's projections for 2017/2018.  Reimer says that suggests a couple of things.  Either more parents are registering their children early, or there will be more students than projected number who have already registered.  "That would put us beyond our projection and probably closer to 335 students now."

Reimer said that is larger than average kindergarten class for GVSD, but not the division's largest.  He said because of growth over the years, it's hard to say what the largest class was. "But if you take a look at the largest grade that we have, assuming that that same number was in kindergarten, our classes range from about 325 to the largest which would be 360.  And that's a current group in grade 11."

For most schools, Reimer said registrations are pretty much on track with their projections. "Except for Southwood in Schanzenfeld, there we are down slightly," said Reimer. "In Winkler at J.R. (Walkof) and W.E.S. (Winkler Elementary), we're pretty much bang on. But Parkland, we're considerably beyond our projections, and that means we're going to have to do something there, and we're already working on that."

Parkland, which is located in an area where there is still a lot of residential growth happening in the city, was built for 300 students.  It now has a population of over 500 and has seven portable classrooms on its property.

For parents who have not yet registered their children who are eligible to begin kindergarten this fall, Reimer said to feel free to contact your local school or call the division office and they will be happy to help with the process.w