I just want to share my experience with registering for school at the Richmond BC school board (note: I am not sure if it would be the same for each city/province though). The Richmond BC school board (District no. 38) is located along Granville Ave.
We gave the following documents to them:
- ORIGINAL Report Card (we brought the Form 137/transcript, just in case)
- ORIGINAL Birth Certificate
- ORIGINAL Certificate Of Permanent Residence (we haven’t received our PR card that time)
- Immunization Records of our son
- Proof of Lease/Rent (but for us, ORIGINAL Property Tax Assessment of our uncle because we were living with them that time.)
- Proof of Billing as secondary proof of residence (we brought our credit card billing statement, you can bring your mobile billing, if you have one)
- Diagnosis report and IEP of our son (he was diagnosed gifted in Manila), for additional support.
We filled up a form and then they photocopied everything, they informed us that due to our son’s age, he would be placed in Grade 5 and that he will start school as soon as they contacted the catchment school, they will check the availability. We landed end of March and went to the school board 2nd week of April, we thought he would be starting next school year, which starts in September (school in BC ends June), there were only 9 weeks left in the school year but they recommended us to enroll him still so that he can adjust to the new environment, and he can slowly ease in. At first we were apprehensive because he’s supposed to be Grade 7 (he was accelerated twice), but they told us that they really recommend him to stay with the age for socio-emotional compatibility.
2 days after we went to the school board, they called to say that the catchment school was full and cannot accommodate us, (the catchment school was literally at the back of our backyard), but he will be placed at the next nearest school, which is a kilometer away. We went there and we were more than happy with the nearest school being full (haha), The school has a playing field, playground, an herb garden where the students tend to themselves, they have a smaller number in terms of students plus they have combined classes (meaning 2 grades in one class). The school puts him in the grade 5/6, so he can still stay with the same age as him but they can give him advance lessons, activites, etc. They continue to observe him until the school year’s over and they’ll assess if he’ll stay with this class next year or be put in the grade 6/7 class in September.
Since he is enrolled in this school, we have an option to let him stay in this school or let him transfer to the catchment school, we love the admins, teachers and the overall vibe of the school so we told the principal that we would love for him to stay with them next school year.
So my recommendation is to go to the school board and register your child as soon as you have all your documents ready, whatever month you land in Canada.
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