Strong Beginnings is an elementary school program that takes place at the start of the school year. It helps teachers assess the point from which each student is starting the next grade. 

North Memorial School resource teacher Kim Houle says it's taking place today and Monday.

"Students have an hour-long appointment with their teacher to do some reading, writing and math assessments," explains Houle. "There are no scheduled classes for students, but each student will have an appointment time and that runs Kindergarten through Grade 8 in the Portage la Prairie School Division."

It's a good point at which to start the year, seeing as it's the first school year after the pandemic, and the progress of many students may have been dampened as a result.

"We've been doing it for a number of years now," notes Houle. "It's a great chance for teachers to get to know the students and to do some relationship building. That way, their programming can be built around what their needs are."