Alternate Days

You will notice that on our Cortes School Calendar we have listed Alternate Days. Currently, we extend the school day a few minutes longer than the schools in Campbell River. These minutes add up over the year and result in us being able to schedule an extra 8 days off during the school year. By doing this, the alternate days allow Cortes families greater access to services off island for doctor/dentist or mechanical appointments. It is hoped that by providing extra days ­­during the year we can minimize the number of absences for trips off island.

Historically, Cortes Island School had Friday as a half day. What we found was that many families chose not to send their child/ren at all that day and attendance on those days was particularly low.

In the past the principal invited feedback from the school community regarding the alternate calendar. We had good response to the survey with three quarters of families responding. Of those responses 85% were in favor of keeping alternate days in our calendar.

Sincerely,

Michael Datura

Principal, Cortes Island School