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Fore Vol. 133 No. 16 PORT PERRY - TUES., MARCH 9, 199 Sections of downtown Port Perry, circa 1900, have been reconstructed by local historian Paul Arculus and will.pe on display this Thursday, March 11, at the official launch of his new book. "The Merchants of Old Port Perry. The Jnagel will provide a Hweedimensional lock at how the bulldings looked along COPY 65¢ (61¢+ 4¢ GST) 24 Pages ALLE FAM sng PRA gn St 4 Queen and Water Streets almost a century,ago- Mr. Arculus will be on hand at Town, Hall 1873 to autograph coples of his new book, which he has been researching for the past seven years. A number of guests, including CTV news commentator Mike Duffy, will be on hand for the occasion. See story page 4 New curriculum reforms announced By Chris Hall Port Perry Star Secondary school curriculum reforms announced last week by the province's education minister have garnered favourable reviews here, but the timing of the changes has raised many questions. Dave Johnson, Ontario's Minister of Education and Training, surprised no one last Thursday (March 4) when he announced sweeping changes to the province's high school curriculum. Under the new diploma requirements, students will complete 18 compulsory credits, up from the current 16. Along with more rigorous course work and increased emphasis on math, language and science, the new curriculum includes civics, mandatory community involve- ment, and opportunities for workplace preparation. All students will be required to pass a Grade 10 level literacy test. The changes will see students graduate high school in four years, after Grade 12. Ontario Academic Credit (OAC) courses, a prerequisite for entry to university, are being phased out. The proposed changes have the endorsement of Scugog public school trustee Bobbie Drew. But the province's plan to have them implemented by this September is cause for concern, she said. "From what I've heard about the reform, we're very excited about the cur- riculum itself, but we're very concerned about the time frame given to us," said Mrs. Drew. "It is very important that we do this right, and it will take time for us to look over the curriculum and get the teachers (familiar with it)," she said. "It is impor- tant for the kids that we get this right." | Rushed timeline a concern The education minister said the first part of the new curriculum would be out by May and that the rest would follow. That schedule will make it very difficult to implement the new curriculum by September, said Mrs. Drew. "We're very concerned about the tight timeline we've been given to get this done. We'd like to dialogue with them (province) to let them know how long it will take us to get this done and for us to do it in a timely fashion," she said. "In the past the province has promised us things for certain times and there have been delays because they said they were taking their time to get it right... we'd appreciate the same consideration in return." Dave Robinson, a teacher at Port Perry High School and union rep for the Ontario Please turn to page 15 1881 -- Street, Port Perry @ (905) 985-9869