Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education met for the first time in 2021 on Tuesday.--SCREENSHOT
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education is staying digital for its February registration.
New and returning students will be able to register for Catholic schools online, a process that went well last year, says communications co-ordinator Derrian Hallas.
“Last year went pretty smooth,” she said. “We’re hoping for an even smoother year this year.
“We have a lot more experience with the process now, so we hope it can be even better for families.”
Traditionally students would be sent home with paper packages that would need to be filled out and brought back to school. Secretaries would then scan documents and save them digitally.
The new digital method allows parents to create a profile for their children online and update it every year with any new changes. Users are able to upload any documents to the profile from their computer or mobile device.
“It’s easier on both ends,” said Hallas.
In previous years, MHCBE has held in-person open houses for parents and students to take part in. Due to COVID-19, those are not possible.
“Most schools have virtual tours that parents and students can take, and they’re quite well done,” she said. “Schools that don’t have them are working on getting them.
“New families are able to contact schools and book COVID-safe tours of buildings.”
Calculator
MHCBE has also created a tool to help parents figure out when their kids are ready to be signed up for kindergarten.
Head to the Catholic school board website and click on the ‘Student Registration’ subhead. Under that is a ‘Kindergarten’ option, which will lead users to a calculator tool.
Children are able to start Kindergarten if they are five years old on or before Dec. 31, 2021. Children must start Grade 1 if they are six or older on Sept. 1 of this year.
“We get a lot of questions around when people should send their children to school,” said Hallas. “Our goal was to make this as user friendly as possible.
“All parents have to do is put in their child’s birthday and it will calculate the September they can start school.”
