According to the Early Development Instrument (EDI) Report, Western School Division (WSD) students are at par or above the provincial average when it comes to being prepared for school.

The EDI is a 103 item questionnaire completed by kindergarten teachers in the second half of the school year that measures children’s ability to meet age-appropriate developmental expectations in five general areas including physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, communication skills and general knowledge.

"Those five domains provide us with a comprehensive picture of the skills and abilities of the students that are coming in from pre-school," said WSD Vice Superintendent Cyndy Kutzner. "Although we do the EDI when children are in Kindergarten, it really is a measurement of their pre-school development."

The results help the division plan the pre-school programming and guides which areas need more resources and attention.

"Our results show that we have a higher percentage of children very ready for school," said Kutzner. "So, that means they are coming in with skills that are above average in terms of their readiness for school. We also have fewer kids that are categorized as not ready for school."