As of this September Ecole Mother Teresa School will be a Grade 5-8 school.
The change comes from additional modular units being added to Ecole Our Lady of the Rosary School, which will allow the school to transition to a Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 4 school.
Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division (RDCRS) saw a 1.7 per cent growth in attendance at Sylvan Lake schools. Because of this the school division applied for two modulars in November for OLR School, and a new application for modulars for the school has been approved.
Principal of Mother Teresa Shane Chisholm says the additional modulars is a “celebration for the success and growth of Catholic education in Sylvan Lake.”
This summer the addition modulars will be added to OLR, which will help the school accommodate Grade 4 students.
A press release from RDRCS says moving the Grade 4 classes to OLR will allow for more “flexibility in overall timetabling of student and teachers in instructional spaces” at Mother Teresa.
Rob Coumont, principal at Our Lady of the Rosary, says he looks forward to the addition of the Grade 4 students, when classes resume in the fall.
“We look forward to having Grade 4 students in our school. As our oldest students, they will become our leaders. As our school continues to grow, we look forward to the many opportunities and blessings,” said Coumont.
With Grade 4 classes moving from one school to another, comes a transition period for both students and staff.
Chrisholm says it will be hard to see the staff move from Mother Teresa to Our Lady of the Rosary, as they have been “invaluable to the story, team and culture” at the school.
“We have been blessed to have the opportunity to work in a team between our two schools and we look forward to the new opportunities that our growth will provide for our staff and students,” Chisholm said.
Dorraine Lonsdale, local trustee for RDCRS, says both Catholic schools in Sylvan Lake are both fully populated.
“École Our Lady of the Rosary School has the capacity to add modulars on to the footprint of their land. École Mother Teresa School does not have usable land for any type of additions,” Lonsdale said in a press release.
The Three-Year Capital Plan for RDCRS includes the request for a new Kindergarten to Grade 5 school for Sylvan Lake by 2025.
The additional modulars will be put into place over the summer months and will be ready for the new students for the first day of class in September 2020.