Many rural areas are experiencing depopulation as their residents flock to urban centers. As a result, declining student enrollment is often a major problem for school districts, as is the case in the Portage la Prairie School Division. But despite the trend, the Portage la Prairie School Division grows in other ways, countering its enrollment losses with careful and effective budget planning.
The town of Portage la Prairie was founded in 1897. Its approximately 13,000 inhabitants can enjoy a serene, rural lifestyle in the center of Canada on the southern plains of Manitoba Province.
There are 18 schools and more than 3,000 students in the Portage la Prairie School Division, which includes 10 Hutterite schools. The division is only about 84 kilometers away from Winnipeg, a city known as the “cultural cradle of Canada.” Portage la Prairie itself is known as the Strawberry Capital of Canada. Though Portage la Prairie may give off a small-town vibe, there is nothing small about the work that has been put into the city’s educational programs.
A rich history
Portage la Prairie’s school division wasn’t always consolidated as it is today. A well-documented, unique history of the one-room schools that used to comprise the division can be found in a collection of stories called Rural Schools: Portage la Prairie School Division #24. The stories relate local history from when Portage la Prairie’s one-room schools began to when they closed around 1966.
The division’s current schools have a rich history of their own. Portage Collegiate Institution (PCI), the senior high school in the district, was established in 1894 and currently has over 1,000 students. Its history is well documented in the school’s archives created in 2001.
Besides being home to historical documents and artifacts recording the rich and long history of the institution, the archives also house the Tashiro Collection of photo negatives, photos taken for The Daily Graphic newspaper. Artifacts belonging to several of the other Portage la Prairie schools have also been added to the archives at PCI.
Not everything, however, is old at PCI. A healthcare center was recently built at the institution in 2009, and PCI features academic programs as well as programs for business and technology to teach students the latest skills.
The practical skills programs include business education, marketing, cosmetology, computer technology, construction, electronics and agriculture management. With facilities such as the archives and a variety of educational programs, PCI meets the academic needs of the students and community.
Portage la Prairie exhibits other great educational facets such as several French language programs. Basic French is part of the core curriculum for grades four through 12, and Conversational French is offered as an option for grades nine through 12. Portage la Prairie also has a French Immersion program at the Crescentview School for K-4 students.
In lieu of the rural challenge of depopulation, Portage la Prairie manages to keep its educational system strong. The school division of Portage la Prairie understands the importance of growth and improvement, despite its well-established education programs.
Progressive planning
Student enrollment has been steadily decreasing in Portage la Prairie. This is not just a problem for this school division, said Hazen Barrett, superintendent, but one occurring in many rural communities across the country.
"We have experienced for many, many years – we're talking going into decades – declining enrollments and we even budget for a decline of approximately 50 students each year," Barrett told The Daily Graphic.
Despite a decline in students, Portage la Prairie added 19 new teachers for the current school year, and that’s not all -- there are technology expansions on the horizon. In the budget plan for the 2011-2012 school year, the Portage la Prairie schools are expected to receive smartboards, computers (including netbooks), a 10MB Internet line and managed wireless networks.
A wide area network is also in the works for the Portage la Prairie School Division, according to the district.
“It will establish a technology connection between all of our schools and all of our locations within the division,” Barrett said on portageonline.com.
“This will increase our capacity to run various programs, to allow us to manage our own system, and allow us to expand the capabilities of what the schools can do so that a lot of the more advanced programming options that need to be available for students in the new technological ages can become available to them,” Barrett added.
The budget plans for technology will help Portage la Prairie pursue some important environmental endeavors. An energy management system is in the budget plan for Fort la Reine, a school for grades K-6. There are also plans for natural gas renovations for the school division.
Several other renovations and education facility improvements have been approved in the budget for the new school year. For example, the science labs at PCI will be revamped for the coming year. All in all, the careful budget planning presents a great start to the 2011-2012 school year for the Portage la Prairie School Division.
