Hello everyone,

Why are you closing this great community school? They have daycare, ESL, evening classes, CCNA program and many other wonderful community things. My parents graduated from Rideau HS and then I went there proud to graduate as well. If it is still operational when my kids get to high school then they will be going there too!

Bad school? Bad rep? Yeah no way. I went to Rideau and there were less bad things happening around then at others schools you hear of.  If that’s the reason, then improve the rep of it. By doing things like saying “Lets close this school because of its bad rep” you are just enforcing the fact that it’s true when it’s really not. Also, let’s take into account your average teenager and the things they are going to do regardless of which school they are at.

It is a small school compared to some others. So if you are going to judge its rep do so with hard numbers not percentages because obviously if 100 students are bad on average in each Ottawa high school and that equates to 25% of Rideau students vs 5% of Gloucester students obviously the results are going to be skewed.

On the note of results I am unsure what the current status of the number of students that pass the new tests are but I would like to point out that even if more students at Rideau fail on average, these students will still fail going to another school. It will not leave more Ontario students passing but rather skewed results to show better results when that is not the case at all. If on average more students at Rideau fail then it’s possible the classes should be redesigned and students should be provided with counseling because it is likely the family/neighborhood issues. That being said, redirecting these students to new schools will again not help them, but just skew the results so they look helped.

Not enough students? That’s not hard to fix, get more students. Advertise. Stop acting like it’s the worst school in town. If you want to go above capacity, then expand the building!

Continuing that note, the size of Rideau currently may not be a good thing for money, but it is a good thing for students. Teachers that have classes of >30 cannot give each student the attention they require. Big classes are bad for education. Rideau’s class size are perfect they way they were when I graduated in 2002.

Many students can walk to school, that will not be the case if they are relocated. This will not only inconvenience them, but likely cost the school board lots of money in paying for bus passes for all the students. It will also leave many students disgruntled likely causing more troubles in their new school rather then less.

As an Ottawa resident, I ask that you make decisions such as this based on the best interest of the students and quality of education and not for financial reasons.The best educational decisions are not necessarily the most cost efficient ones. Our kids deserve education, not penny pinching.

You’ll notice one thing about Rideau grads that separates us from others. We are not embarrassed of our school, of our education or intimidated by what any rumors say. We love our school and are proud to say “I graduated from Rideau High School!”

My two cents,
-Katrina Hunter