District Reception & Placement Centre and ESL students
The Vancouver School District is large, urban and multicultural school district with a significant English-as-a-second language student population.
- 25% of K-Grade 12 students are designated ESL
- 60% speak a language other than English at home
- 126 languages have been identified in our schools
To support our ESL learners we have English-as-a-second language services through
- District Reception and Placement Centre (DRPC) (see below)
Please click on links above to read information on these services.
We also have published parent information brochures in several languages - follow the links at the top of this webpage.
District Reception and Placement Centre (DRPC)
The District Reception and Placement Centre (DRPC) registers newly arrived students throughout the year, the busiest months being August and September. Students who must register at DRPC include:
- Students born outside of Canada, including those for whom English is the language of the home.
- Students who were born outside Vancouver who speak English as an additional language.
DRPC registration information and checklist of required documents to bring when registering your child)ren).
District Reception and Placement Centre 1000 East 59th Avenue Tel: (604) 713-5999
Located in the East wing of Moberly Elementary school
NB: From late June to late August, English as a first language students who were born in Canada also register at DRPC. During the rest of the year, these students go directly to their Neighbourhood Schools to register.
DRPC staff check birth certificates and/or citizenship papers, immigration documents, health records, report cards, and proof of residence as part of the registration procedure.
Once registration is completed, DRPC staff will process the file and prepare to send the information to the home or placement school. If English is not the language of the home, it is likely that an assessment of the student will have to be done. An appointment is made and the student returns to DRPC for assessment in reading, writing and mathematics. The completed file and the assessment results are sent directly to the home/placement school.
The supervisor of the DRPC is also responsible for the Multicultural Liaison Workers (MCLW's), who are the cultural resource staff of the Vancouver Board of Education. The MCLW's are available to support students, families, and school personnel by facilitating communication despite linguistic or cultural differences. Currently, the MCLW's can provide support to speakers of Cambodian, Cantonese, Filipino, Gujarati, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
The coordinator of Volunteer Interpreters for schools' parent-teacher conferences is also located at DRPC. Parents or others who can speak and read in English and another language, and who are interested in acting as volunteer interpreters for these events, can phone the volunteer coordinator at (604) 713-5836 for further information.
The DRPC staff work cooperatively with school personnel and other district staff to ensure that students who register at the DRPC are placed promptly in schools and receive the most appropriate educational services possible.
DRPC Staff
District Principal William Wong
SWIS Coordinator Jerry Wu
District Assessment Teacher Sarah Rossellini
Office Support B Elizabeth Trujillo
Office Support B (registry) Cynthia Ling
Office Support B (registry) Jean Lui
Office Support B (SWIS) Ella Fong
Coordinator of Volunteer Interpreters Chansokhy Anhaouy
Multicultural Liaison Workers Jerry Wu
Settlement Workers in Schools Jerry Wu
Location
1000 East 59th Avenue (east wing of Moberly Elementary)
Vancouver, B.C.
TEL (604) 713-5999
FAX (604) 713-5998
E-mail: drpc@vsb.bc.ca
8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Monday to Friday
