None for Aylmer

4-year-old kindergarten for two Western Quebec schools 

The Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement Supérieur (MEES) has granted two new full-time four-year-old kindergarten classes for Buckingham Elementary in Gatineau and Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary in Shawville. The classes will be offered in September 2019. Those two schools are regulated by the Western Québec School Board (WQSB). 

Right now, there are 7 school members of the WQSB that offer full-time four-year-old kindergarten classes. 

The program for 4-year-olds has a goal to prepare children for the Preschool Education Program for 5-years-olds. It is in line with the Québec daycare program and meeting early childhood needs.    

WQSB will establish and publicize the registration timelines, procedures and criteria in the coming weeks.   

In September 2019, there will be 644 4-year-old kindergarten classes throughout Quebec, according to the Ministère de l’Éducation. The Quebec government expects this number to go up over the years, as other schools are built. 

The 4-year-old kindergarten legislative bill was introduced in the National Assembly in mid-February. Those kindergarten classes are not mandatory for all students in Quebec; it is often a program offered to disadvantaged children. Premier François Legault said in February that those classes are “a new tool we are giving ourselves to act early, to detect learning disabilities more quickly and to help our children succeed.”