Classes are finally in full swing and now that the dust has settled, here's a summary of what's happening on the school scene this year.
EOES: FRENCH IMMERSION INCREASE
While its total enrolment holds steady, …cole Olds Elementary School has seen an uptick in French immersion enrolment this year, with more than 35 new students, and the addition of a split Grade 1 and 2 class.
The school also has three new teachers this year, including two each for grades 3 and 4, as well as a new principal Margo Nygard, who was previously the vice-principal of Bowden Grandview School.
HOLY TRINITY: NEW PRINCIPAL, NEW PLAYGROUND
In addition to four new teachers, Holy Trinity Catholic School welcomed a new principal this school year. Ken Meraw was previously the vice-principal of …cole Mother Teresa School in Sylvan Lake.
"I want to really build the image of the school as a family ñ the highest quality learning in a family-type setting, that's what I am looking to achieve," said Meraw.
The school has also seen an increase in enrolments; enough to add a second full day kindergarten class this year, and to consider adding portable classrooms next year.
"We are certainly at capacity now ñ we're using every available space in the school," said Meraw, who added he's not sure what to attribute the growth to. "I'd like to say it's because of the great things that are happening here, but I honestly don't know."
The school also unveiled new additions to its playground structures this year.
DEER MEADOW: GETTING TECH SMART
Staff at Ecole Deer Meadow School attended a Google summit before the school year to become "tech smarter."
Principal Carey Collin said teachers learned that it's OK to allow kids to experiment with new technologies when they're guided appropriately, and said this hopefully reduces anxiety in the adults about not knowing everything there is to know.
"We all believe that we can make smarter kids and better citizens at the same time," said Collin.
OHS: FIELD SHORTAGE
Principal Tom Christiansen said the biggest thing the high school is facing this year is the lack of one of their outdoor fields ñ new grass was planted on the soccer field east of the building, but it didn't take, despite watering, because of the dry summer.
"This summer was rough on our plans," said Christiansen.
That means, between the high school and college sports teams, there is one less usable field for the upcoming year.
"We're struggling with our outside fields this fall," said Christiansen. "But we have a good plan, I think, that will get resolved over the next year."
OHS has three new staff this year, including two alumni who are now returning to teach. Taylor Grenier will be teaching humanities and Jason Jackson will be teaching in the French immersion program.
Christiansen said the French immersion program continues to grow. Last year, OHS saw its first three grads from the program, and this year's class will be bigger.
This year's school play will be The Adams Family beginning at the end of November.
OKCS: AT CAPACITY
Principal Dwayne Brown said registrations at Olds Koinania Christian School are up by almost 50 students this year, an unprecedented increase for the school. He suspects that increase is related to new families in the area and the addition of previously home-schooled students.
"I think maybe the government is putting some more expectations on home-school families and the home-school organizations, and that may be part of the reason," said Brown, who added that the increase was spread across all the grades.
The school did not need to hire new teachers, but their class sizes have increased, to the point where they've had to turn new students away.
"It's pushing the limits of our facility," he said. "We have one class per grade here and at this point not much room for expansion."
"When we've had to say ëno' to some families, it's because there's just physically not enough space in that classroom."
Brown said, however, they would need to see a larger registration increase in order to consider a building expansion, since OKCS is responsible for its own infrastructure costs.
"If we look to build, it's coming out of parents and fundraising," he said.
While they've had portables in the past ñ something that may be considered again ñ the other challenge is their water supply, which isn't connected to town water.
"When you are looking at water and septic, we've never had that large of a population here, so we want to see how our current water system can handle it," said Brown.
SIDEBAR
SCHOOL ROUNDUP
…COLE OLDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Principal: Margo Nygard (new principal)
Grades: K-4
Enrolment: 575 (last year: 580)
Teachers: 29 (last year 29)
School board: Chinook's Edge School Division
HOLY TRINITY CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Principal: Ken Meraw (new principal)
Grades: K-8
Enrolment: 278 (last year: 265)
Teachers: 22 (last year: 20)
School board: Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools
…COLE DEER MEADOW SCHOOL
Principal: Carey Collin
Grades: 5-8
Enrolment: 442 (last year 440)
Teachers: 21 (last year 21)
School board: Chinook's Edge School Division
OLDS HIGH SCHOOL
Principal: Tom Christiansen
Grades: 9-12
Enrolment: 556 (last year 544)
Teachers: 31 (last year 27)
School board: Chinook's Edge School Division
OLDS KOINONIA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Principal: Dwayne Brown
Grades: K-12
Enrolment: 344 (up from 296)
Teachers: XX (last year 17)
School board: Chinook's Edge School Division
HORIZON SCHOOL
Principal: Judith Knight
Grades: K-12 (congregated special needs programming)
Enrolment: 35 (up from 40)
Teachers: 5 (last year 5)
School board: Chinook's Edge School Division
"This summer was rough on our plans."TOM CHRISTIANSENPRINICPAL OLDS HIGH SCHOOL
