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Parent Resources
- Career Programs and Dual Credit
- Child Care Programs
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- Kindergarten Registration
- Inclusive Learning Support
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District Parent Advisory Council
- Chair: Carmen Sundstrom
- Email: cowichanvalleydpac@sd79.bc.ca
- Website: dpac.sd79.bc.ca
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- Employment
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Employment Opportunities
Join the Cowichan Valley School District and have the career you want that supports the life you have.
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- Contact Us
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Welcome to Cowichan Valley School District
The Cowichan Valley School District proudly serves learners across many diverse communities. We offer world-class instruction and a rich diversity of engaging programs to help prepare our learners for a world they will create.
Contact District
Phone: (250) 748-0321
Fax: (250) 748-6591
Email: info@sd79.bc.caMailing Address
- 2557 Beverly Street
Duncan, British Columbia
V9L 2X3
- 2557 Beverly Street
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- Schools
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Welcome to Cowichan Valley School District
There are 17 Elementary schools and 5 Secondary schools in the Cowichan Valley School District.
Catchment School
To learn what your catchment school is and to obtain school contact info please use the School Locator tool.
Framework for Enhancing Student Learning (FESL)
Each school has their own plan on how to serve our learners. These plans align with the district-wide FESL and Beyond Education, you can find individual school FESL’s with the below
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- News
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- Calendars
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View 2024-2027 School Calendars
- 2024/25 School Calendar – finalized (the non-instructional and professional development days have been confirmed) and includes Early Dismissal days. Early Dismissal days added for PLCs.
- 2025/26 School Calendar
- 2026/27 School Calendar
- School Calendar Holiday Breaks (2024/25 to 2026/27)
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have questions about how the school calendars are created? Please read our Frequently Asked Questions.
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Register Your Child for Kindergarten
Kindergarten registration can be done in person at schools, online or you can download a copy of the paper registration package under the “Kindergarten Registration Process” menu below and do it from home. Please note that there may be other forms to fill in at the school, if you register online, these will be provided to you after registration to complete.
The Cowichan Valley School District welcomes new Kindergarten students for the 2025 – 2026 school year.
Any child who will be five years of age on or before December 31, 2025, may register at their catchment school. If you are unsure of your school, please use the school locator.
French Immersion Registration
January 20 – 24, 2025
Register for French Immersion schools for September 2025, online or in person.
*Please, also, apply to your catchment school next week, as French Immersion seats are limited and awarded via a lottery system.
Kindergarten Registration
January 27 – 31, 2025
Register for Kindergarten for September 2025, online or in person at your catchment school.
Some documentation will be required for registration at any school. Students without Canadian documents and/or proof of BC residency will be redirected to the Principal of International Education located at Quw’utsun School.
Registration for school requires proof of age for your child, and accepted documentation is:
- Canadian Birth Certificate
- Canadian passport
- Status Card
- Permanent Residency Documents
- Canadian Citizenship Documents
- BC Care Card WITH photo.
Registration for school also requires proof of residency for your family, and accepted documentation for this is: - Parent/Guardian Drivers License with legal address
- Parent/Guardian Care Card with legal address
- Utility invoice
- Contract of Purchase and Sale
- Rental Contract.
- Kindergarten registrations will be accepted from families living within a school’s catchment area, and from families whose older child(ren) will be continuing at the school with previous out of catchment approval.
- Any family wishing to register their child out of catchment may apply to do so using an out of catchment request form available at the school, after completing their catchment school registration. As per Administrative Procedure #301, first preference for registrations will be given to those children who reside in the school catchment.
- Parents with questions about the full day kindergarten program should speak to their catchment school Principal about their child’s needs.
- If you are unsure that your child should attend Kindergarten, please reach out to the Principal of your catchment school.
- Families from Honeymoon Bay, Mesachie Lake and Youbou register at Palsson Elementary.
- Families from Thetis Island register at Chemainus Elementary Community School.
- French Immersion is offered at Ecole Mt Prevost Elementary School and Ecole Cobble Hill Elementary School. If required, a district-supervised lottery will select applicants for the available program space.
Registration will take place at your catchment school during regular office hours the week of
January 27 – 31, 2025.
Registration will take place at the French Immersion schools during regular office hours the week of January 20 – 24, 2025. (This includes siblings and all late applicants will be wait-listed).
Anxiety Canada has provided a video (3 minutes) for parents of children entering Kindergarten to assist in the transition from home to school, with a focus of separation anxiety.
Helping your Kindergartener with Separation Anxiety
French Immersion is a District program with no specific catchment areas. It is offered at École Mt. Prevost and École Cobble Hill Elementary Schools.
There are two entry points into the French Immersion program; Kindergarten and Grade 1. The families who have remained on our waitlist from the September 2024 Kindergarten registration will preserve the same order of placement status should we have space to take new Grade 1 students in the fall of 2025. Parents of students on the 2024 waitlist will be contacted in January to see if they would like to transfer into the French Immersion program for the Grade 1 entry point. Any new Grade one registrations will be added to the current waitlist.
If requested spaces for French Immersion elementary schools are over-subscribed, placement will be determined by lottery.
Assignment will be based on the following:
- Priority is granted to students who have an older brother or sister residing at the same address that attends the same school and is eligible to return in the next school year.
- Any remaining spaces will be assigned on a lottery basis to those in-district applicants who have submitted complete applications during the registration period.
- In-district students, who miss the registration dates, may still apply to the program, but will be placed at the end of the waitlist.
- Students who move into the district after the selection process is complete may still apply to the program, but will be placed at the end of the waitlist.
Information sessions will be held for École Mount Prevost Elementary in the library on Tuesday, January 14th at 6:00 pm and École Cobble Hill Elementary in the library on Tuesday, January 14th at 6:00 pm.
How Does the Lottery System Work?
If applications exceed the number of available spaces a lottery system will be used in accordance with the district’s selection process set out below.
If required, available spaces will be allotted through a randomized lottery draw conducted by the School District office.
- Parents will be notified of the outcome of the lottery, by phone, within one week of the lottery draw. Families will have 24 hours to accept or reject an offered seat. After that time, unclaimed seats will be offered to waitlisted applicants.
- Applicants not offered a space will be placed on a waitlist. The lottery also will determine the order of the waiting list. Parents will be notified of their place on the waitlist at the time they are notified that their child did not receive a space in the program.
- Those put on the waitlist must register their child at their catchment school as placement in the program is not guaranteed.
FAMILY INFORMATION EVENINGS
We will be hosting two Family Information Evenings for those families interested in having their child(ren) attend kindergarten at either École Mount Prevost Elementary or École Cobble Hill starting September 2025.
École Mount Prevost – Tuesday, January 14th at 6:00 pm in the library
- Contact the school by email at for any questions
École Cobble Hill – Tuesday, January 14th at 6:00 pm in the library
- Contact the school by email for any questions