Nearly 40 parents camp in the cold outside Royal Vale school for a kindergarten spot

Nearly 40 parents camped outside of Royal Vale School, some of them for almost three days, to secure a coveted spot for their child in the school’s annual February registration.

The doors finally opened at 6:15 a.m. Monday. Some parents had been waiting since Friday evening.

“We had a fire outside. We were really well dressed with winter pants and everything,” said Fernanda Torres, a parent. “We survived.”

Last year there were only 29 slots available at the school. This year there were 40.

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But the parents of only 39 kids sat in the line-up, meaning that one spot was there for the taking. The lucky parent ended up being Andrew Hamilton, who woke up in his own bed, drove to the school, and discovered by pure luck that he had snagged the final registration spot.

“I came here expecting there would no spots available,” he told Global News. “Do I feel guilty? I do feel a little guilty we got it easier, I do.”

Royal Vale School is especially prized because of its French immersion program and because it’s a “zone-free” school that isn’t tied to a particular neighbourhood.

This year, other schools in the English Montreal School Board, like Merton and Edinburgh, saw similar situations happen on their grounds. Space is limited in those schools due to overcrowding.

The question of reforming the first-come, first-served registration system comes up from time to time.

But “we find people want to have control over the situation,” said Nathalie Lacroix-Maillette, the Royal Vale principal. “We’ve discussed people having a draw, but you know, we’re being told people don’t want a draw.”