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KAMLOOPS -  A new school year is just about to begin for the Kamloops-Thompson school district, and there are some things parents and students need to know.

Next week, nearly 14,000 students across the board will be filing into classrooms to commence a new year. Students head back to their classrooms on Tuesday, Sept. 4 and school officials want you to know how they kept busy over the summer break. In addition to building upgrades, the school board has also revised curriculums, implemented a new school website, and have information on enrolment and ongoing projects.

Here's what you can expect for this school year across the district.

Over the summer, infrastructure work on various projects across the school board totaled $3.5 million. Some of the changes include new chain fencing at the Kamloops School of Arts, upgrades to the parking lot at Westmount Elementary, new portables in Pineview and a new gymnasium at South Kamloops Secondary. Other upgrades include new water fountains at all schools across the district, and roof replacements at Logan Lake Elementary and Barriere Elementary. The wood dust collection systems were replaced at the Sa-hali Secondary and Westsyde Secondary schools. 

When it comes to enrolment numbers,  the school district reports the school board has seen positive growth in enrolment trends over the last several years. However, certain schools such as Valleyview Secondary and Westmount Elementary have seen a decline in enrolment.

Current enrolment rates indicate the district has 187 more students than they did last year. In total, the board says there are 8,688 elementary students currently enrolled and 5,671 secondary students.

For this year, the majority of international students are coming from China, Germany, and Brazil. The district's international student enrolment numbers show 228 students will join classrooms this year. 

In terms of curriculum changes, several areas of the Grade 10 curriculum have been revised, and a new core course has also been introduced called 'Career Life Education 10'. Staff are also working on developing a Career Life Connections 12 course. 

When it comes to technology education, the district technology committee is working to develop a new district plan to support technology education in schools. 

The Early Years to Kindergarten pilot project introduced by the Ministry of Education will look at how to better transition students entering their first year of education at the kindergarten level. The ministry has chosen a handful of districts to participate in the pilot program and school district No. 73 is one of them.

A new sexual health curriculum is also in the works. Staff are working to implement the superintendent's task force on school safety report recommendations to develop a more current sexual health curriculum.

Some ongoing goals the school board has set for the school year include continuing to maintain high graduation rates for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. Students and teachers met the previous school year's goal of 85 per cent of a graduation rate goal and have set the new graduation rate goal at 90 per cent for the next four years.

School District 73 has one of the highest Aboriginal student graduation rates in the province at 79 per cent.

For more information on the 2018 to 2019 school district go here.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Karen Edwards or call (250) 819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2018