The local Catholic school board is augmenting the package it gives to parents at their child's baptism.
Director of Education Dan Parr says the folder will contain parish information on one side, and school board into on the other. "It consists of a welcoming letter from myself and from the board chair, a growth chart for families to put up in their homes to measure the growth of their children, and a story book which is designed to enable parents to teach their children some language skills, some prayers to know, and to enable parents to introduce their children to concepts that we think that are important," says Parr. "That is reading to your children and teaching them about God through prayer."
Parr says the finished product has been several months in the making and hope to have them in the parishes for distribution by mid-March. He adds that the folder has been designed to look like a partnership between the Catholic parishes and the school board and the results will help them measure family's confidence in the board's school system.
The plan was approved at the St.Clair Catholic District School Board's recent meeting and goes into effect in March. No dollar figure has been set aside, but the board has put together 1,200 of the packages which it figures should last them a few years.