Secondary Ҵý Schedule Public Engagement | Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows Ҵý District 42

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Secondary Ҵý Schedule Public Engagement

Secondary Ҵý Schedule Public Engagement

The Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows Ҵý District (SD42) is exploring potential changes to secondary school schedules, informed by input from staff, students, and families.

Currently, all SD42 secondary schools follow a linear schedule, where students take up to eight classes across the full school year. The district is now considering whether some schools may transition to a semester schedule, where students take up to four classes per semester, with two semesters per year. Some schools may remain on the linear model.

Any approved changes to secondary school schedules would be implemented in the 2026/27 school year.

Note: Garibaldi Secondary Ҵý must continue on a linear schedule to support its Middle Years and International Baccalaureate programs. As a result, Garibaldi has a separate survey focused on schedule-related supports rather than schedule options.

Consultation and Implementation Timeline
  • April 14 – May 2, 2025: Surveys to students, families, and staff are live
  • Pop-up booths at lunch where students can vote:
    • April 15: Pitt Meadows Secondary
    • April 17: Maple Ridge Secondary
    • April 22: Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary
    • April 24: Westview Secondary 
    • April 29: Thomas Haney Secondary
    • May 1: Garibaldi Secondary
  • Spring – Fall 2025: Working group reviews consultation input and develops recommendations
  • Fall 2025: What We Heard report published and shared with school communities
  • Fall 2025: Superintendent reviews working group recommendations and makes decisions
  • Fall 2025: Report recommendations and final decisions shared with school communities
  • September 2026: Approved changes (if any) to secondary school schedules implemented at individual schools, based on the superintendent’s decision informed by consultation results and working group recommendations
Linear and Semester: Schedule Comparisons

The potential benefits and challenges listed below are meant to help families, students, and staff better understand how each schedule model may impact different aspects of school life.

This is not a definitive or one-size-fits-all list—every student and staff member is unique, and what works well for one person may not work as well for another.

Our goal is to support a thoughtful, informed conversation about which schedule model best fits the needs of each school community.

Download in PDF format

Learning and Teaching Opportunities

LINEAR – Learning and Teaching opportunities
POTENTIAL BENEFITS POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
  • Provides long-term continuity and routines for learning concepts and skills.

  • More time to digest material.

  • Makes it easier to catch up on missed material.

  • Supports deeper learning in courses that benefit from time (e.g., music, languages).

  • Offers more time for assessment and feedback.

  • Ensures students with learning services support have a primary block for the full year.

  • Creates more opportunities for cross-curricular connections.

  • Enables year-round learning that can be tailored to the season, weather, or events.

  • Students remain in the same courses for the full year.

  • Provides less frequent, non-daily practice.

  • Managing eight courses at the same time can be more challenging for some students.

  • Limited advancement within the school year for students interested in accelerated courses.

  • Requires summer school or online learning to repeat graduation-required courses.

  • Makes school or program transfers during the year more difficult.

SEMESTER – Learning and Teaching Opportunities
POTENTIAL BENEFITS POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
  • Fewer number of courses at a time to manage (four per semester).

  • Supports daily practice and reinforcement of course concepts.

  • Fewer students make it easier to track progress and attendance.

  • Allows students to advance in specific discipline areas.

  • Offers more opportunities for semester-based programs.

  • Creates greater flexibility in designing alternative student schedules.

  • Provides the option for flexible graduation timelines.

  • More fast-paced than linear.

  • Possible year-long gap in learning (e.g. math, science).

  • Less time for feedback and course correction.

  • May impact learning in courses that benefit from year-round instruction (e.g., languages, music, reading).

  • Less time to review previous material in class as students have the course daily.

  • Harder to catch up after absences.

  • Some programs or students don’t have year-long support.

  • Scheduling consistent prep time for teachers a challenge.

Mental and Physical Well-Being

LINEAR – Mental and Physical Well-Being
POTENTIAL BENEFITS POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
  • May provide sustained classroom connections with teachers and peers.

  • Consistent course load throughout the year.

  • A day in between classes to digest info and complete assignments.

  • Guaranteed year-long prep for teachers.

  • Greater predictability of a year-long support block for students with learning needs.

  • More courses to juggle at a time which can be overwhelming.

  • “Stuck” in a course for a full year instead of end in sight after five months.

  • Connection building can take longer with more students and classes.

  • Course pacing may feel slow, which can reduce engagement for some learners.

SEMESTER – Mental and Physical Well-Being
POTENTIAL BENEFITS POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
  • More focused study due to four courses at a time can be less overwhelming, especially for students who benefit from added structure or support.

  • Opportunity to start fresh and reset in February.

  • Daily connection between students and teachers.

  • Easier to build short-term goals and feel a sense of progress with term completion every five months.

  • Possibility of unbalanced course load per semester.

  • Quicker coverage of curricula in a shorter time span can lead to students feeling overwhelmed.

  • It may be difficult to keep up the missed work due to absences.

  • Class connection limited to half a year.

Online Surveys
Open April 14 - May 2, 2025
  • Survey: SD42 Secondary Ҵýs/Programs (Excluding Garibaldi Secondary)

    For students, staff, and families connected to Maple Ridge Secondary, Pitt Meadows Secondary, Samuel Robertson, Thomas Haney,  Westview Secondary, Connex, and District Alternate.

    All surveys have now closed. A What We Heard report will be shared with school communities in fall 2025.

    STAFF: Secondary Schedule Survey
    STUDENTS: Secondary Schedule Survey
    FAMILIES: Secondary Schedule Survey

    access translation

    Need to read the survey questions in another language?

    Survey questions are posted in full on separate pages so you can use the Google Translate feature in the top-right corner of this site:

    View Staff Survey Questions
    View Student Survey Questions
    View Family Survey Questions

  • Survey: Garibaldi Secondary Only

    Garibaldi Secondary Ҵý (GSS) must continue with a linear schedule to support its Middle Years and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs.

    As a result, Garibaldi Secondary has a separate survey that focuses not on choosing between schedule models, but on identifying the supports and structures that will continue to strengthen student success within the existing linear model.

    All surveys have now closed. A What We Heard report will be shared with school communities in fall 2025.

    GARIBALDI STAFF: Secondary Schedule Survey
    GARIBALDI STUDENTS: Secondary Schedule Survey
    GARIBALDI FAMILIES: Secondary Schedule Survey

     

    access translation

    Need to read the survey questions in another language?

    Survey questions are posted in full on separate pages so you can use the Google Translate feature in the top-right corner of this site:

    View GSS Staff Survey Questions
    View GSS Student Survey Questions
    View GSS Family Survey Questions

Public Engagement Framework
Values, principles, goal, objectives, and decision making
  • About the Engagement Framework

    This framework outlines the values, principles, goals, objectives, and decision-making approach that guide the public engagement process on potential secondary school schedule changes. It reflects our commitment to a process that is inclusive, transparent, and centered on student success.

  • SD42 Values

    Responsibility to all learners

    We believe that all individuals in our school district community have the capacity to learn and that we are responsible for supporting their learning.

    Uniqueness of each individual

    We value the uniqueness of each learner and embrace diverse ways of learning. We foster a variety of instructional methods and provide support to all learners so that they can realize their potential.

    Diverse learning opportunities

    We value choices for all learners, equity of access to all programs, and a holistic approach to learning. We encourage learning opportunities beyond the classroom. We support life-long learning.

    Culture and community

    We celebrate our many cultures and seek was to appreciate and embrace diversity. We encourage interdependence and collaboration within the school district community. We value community partnerships.

    Personal and Social Responsibility

    We believe that a sense of belonging is at the heart of our school district community and is fundamental to the success of all learners. We are committed to acting as responsible stewards within our community. We cultivate a culture of care within our school district community, and seek to develop the leadership and citizenship capacity of all learners.

    High expectations for success

    We value the ability of all learners to set high expectations for themselves and to describe personal success. We believe success is measured through credible evidence of learning and rigorous self-assessment. We are committed to supporting all learners in achieving personal success.

  • Key Engagement Principles

    The following principles will guide the working group’s recommendations and the superintendent’s decision-making regarding potential schedule changes at each secondary school.

    • Ensure transparent and accountable communication and engagement with students, families, and staff to support the integration of input into decision-making processes—or, if integration is not possible, to clearly communicate why.
    • Communicate clear, concise, balanced, and objective information about the two proposed schedule models for secondary schools.
    • Facilitate an inclusive and accessible engagement process that is easy, accessible and limits barriers to participation, in order to support learners now and into the future.
  • Engagement Goal

    The goal of the engagement process is to share objective information on the two secondary schedule options and obtain input from staff, students, and families on the school schedule option that best supports well-being, student learning and achievement.

  • Engagement Objectives
    • Provide relevant information to staff, students, and families to build awareness and ensure a minimum level of understanding about the features of the two school schedule models.
    • Communicate the process for evaluating the input data and how that informed the recommendations developed by the working group to support confidence in the engagement process.
    • Encourage a high degree of participation from staff, students, and families to generate meaningful data and understand the schedule model that best supports 21st century learners
    • Minimize jargon and technical language in communication messages, making information easy to understand and act upon.
    • Support accessibility by providing translation capabilities in a variety of languages with the survey posted to the district website to support accessibility and inclusion. And provide materials to settlement workers in schools to support students and families whose first language is not English.
    • Report what we heard and how the data gathered informed the recommendations developed by the working group.
  • Decision Making

    A district working group — made up of representatives from secondary school administration, human resources, Indigenous education, learning services, safe and caring schools, and communications — will review the survey results and other relevant input to develop school-by-school recommendations. These recommendations will be based on both the data and the following criteria:

    • Manageable student workload
    • Manageable staff workload
    • Support for student success
    • Support for positive connections
    • Responsiveness to diverse learning needs

    The superintendent will consider the working group recommendations before making a final decision for each school.

Understanding the History of Scheduling in SD42

In the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows Ҵý District (SD42), secondary schools currently follow a linear schedule, where students take up to eight classes throughout the full school year.

During the 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23 school years, the district temporarily used a quarter system and then a semester model to provide greater flexibility during the pandemic. In 2023/24, schools returned to a linear model, with a commitment to gathering input on the preferred schedule model moving forward.

Garibaldi Secondary Ҵý (GSS) must continue with a linear schedule to support its Middle Years and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Visit our frequently asked questions page at /frequently-questions-consultation/

Our vision
Our vision is for every individual to feel valued and for all learners to reach their potential.
Our mission
Our mission is to support all individuals in their development as successful learners, and as respectful, caring and responsible members of society.