After literally years of waiting the Wheatland East School broke ground at its site Monday afternoon.
Students from Hussar, Standard, Gleichen and Rockyford were at the site near the intersection of highways 840 and 561 for an activity day to mark the end of the school year and to witness a groundbreaking ceremony. It was attended by the Superintendent of Golden Hills, Bevan Daverne, board chair David Price, staff, teachers, representation from Wheatland County and MLA Dr. Neil Brown.
“Because of the aging infrastructure in the surrounding communities it was deemed necessary to replace those schools rather than do upgrades, so we are going to have a first class facility here, from Kindergarten all the way up to Grade 12,” Brown told The Mail.
A solution to the Wheatland East school situation has been in the works for years. Getting to this point was predicated by extensive meaningful consultation with the communities and parents, as well as working through the proper processes with the county to secure the parcel of lands.
“We are very pleased to have students come out here and be part of this day, and it is a credit to the four communities working together and having this come forward, that is what has made a difference,” said Price.
The school itself is designed for a core capacity of 450 students, and can be expanded to accommodate more.
“We have completed the design and have gone through quite a process,” said Superintendent Daverne. “Our design is ready to go and we are in the process of completing the tendering process and beginning work,” he said.
The school is slated to open to students in the fall of 2016.
With bricks and mortar taking shape, the plans turn to delivery.
“We are combining four schools into one school and the staff component we are still working on,” said Daverne. “From a programming perspective we are looking at some pretty innovative and exciting plans. We have a couple announcements on dual credits with a couple of colleges and more in the works, but we are really looking to have a community school that fits and is responsive to local needs.
“We are in the middle of agricultural Alberta and we are looking to have partnership with agricultural programming, we are looking at opportunities with energy programming… as well as expanding what we have been offering for other options.”
He sees a great advantage to rural schools.
“When you look around our nation today and our province, a lot of our leaders come from rural schools. The advantages they have had in the smaller school settings for confidence and leadership abilities, we see that paying dividends in our world today, and our local parents have told us we want to see a local and rural school, and for among many reasons, that is one of them,” said Daverne.
He is excited for the future.
“We know we want to have great programming and be responsive to parents, that is how we have ended up with this location and we want to the best we can for kids,” he said. “This is going to be a state of the art facility. A lot of planning has gone into it and with the programming enhancements that are going with it, and I can’t wait. 2016 is going to be awesome.”
