Moody middle school will become Moody Middle, School of the Arts - a school of choice with French immersion and fine arts streams - after the board of education approved the change at its meeting Tuesday.
Soon to be replaced, the current Moody is one of the district's largest middle schools. But the new version will be one of the smallest after about three-quarters of its 730-student population moves to the new Eagle Mountain middle school in September.
According to School District 43 officials, Eagle Mountain - under construction in Anmore - will be over-capacity when it opens next fall but they believe the change in the older school's mandate may encourage some families to stay behind and lure new ones from other areas.
It's a strategy board chair Melissa Hyndes expects will be successful until natural population growth along the Evergreen Line route in Port Moody fills up the school.
"The fit is a good for Moody middle being that [Port Moody is] the City of the Arts," she said. "We're hoping it will bring people from down the mountain."
FINE ARTS FOCUS
The school already has a large number of students enrolled in fine arts activities such as choir, band, the school music program and EPIC (for elite athletes and performing arts students). Principal Nancy Bennett and vice-principal Trevor Kolkea said it makes sense to enhance the fine arts components and work them into the curriculum while adding French immersion, although some details need to be worked out, such as what the feeder schools will be.
The school is already using a type of teaching style called inquiry-based learning, where students do more individual work questioning and investigating topics of interest, and Bennett said plans are to work more of it into the program.
As well, the school is looking at building more partnerships with dance and theatre organizations, encouraging students to develop portfolios, perform for the public in theatres and even at a school coffee house.
Explorations will continue to offer food arts, technical arts and stage craft, but other study areas include dance, drama, media arts, music, visual arts, digital arts and film.
Staffing and timetabling details still have to be worked out, Kolkea said, and the school's parent advisory council and staff were expected to be informed of the change by the end of the week, although most respondents to a survey said they liked the idea.
BIG CHANGE COMING
Still, it will be a big tear in the school's cultural fabric when more than 500 of the school's 730 students leave next fall, along with some of the teachers. Bennett said t-shirts have been made to emphasize the importance of memories as many staff have been at the school for a long time, They will probably mourn the change more than many of the students, she said.
The school has a reputation for spectacular spring musicals and for being the province's number one school fundraiser for the Terry Fox Foundation, raising $22,000 last year and $32,000 this year. Both of these traditions will remain at the school, Bennett and Kolkea say.
As well, students and teachers will be getting a new school. Construction starts in June for a new building for 450 students slated to open in the fall of 2015.
