The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) is assessing whether it will be able to accommodate an influx of students into its International Baccalaureate (I.B.) program offered at Assumption High School.
Nearly 200 students from Riverside High School walked out of classes Thursday in protest of the Greater Essex County District School Board's decision to eliminate the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) program.
The I.B. program is an advanced two-year comprehensive and rigorous pre-university curriculum leading to an I.B. diploma.
Students at the protest expressed their desire to transfer to the Catholic board and attend Assumption, a secondary school within the WECDSB system that offers the I.B. program.
Stephen Fields, communications coordinator for the WECDSB, says due to staffing, space and programming issues, students would not be able to transfer in the middle of the year.
He says they have received a number of calls from parents who expressed interest in moving their children, however the board is currently only gathering information at this point in order to make a determination about how many students they may be able to accommodate the next school year.
Fields says enrolment at Assumption currently sits at 914 students, with 364 of those students in the I.B. program.
The school installed two portables on school campus in order to accommodate the growth.
Assumption will be hosting an information night for Grade 8 students on Wednesday Nov. 27, with the I.B. session beginning at 6 p.m. in the school auditorium.
Fields says parents who are interested in learning more about Assumption's I.B. program can call the school office.