Members of both the Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board and Sturgeon School Division were still working to confirm the location of Morinville’s new non-faith based school Friday.
“Three preschool classes and one kindergarten class are confirmed to start school in September in the parish hall. And at the moment we are finalizing the negotiations for a short-term lease for the Morinville Cultural Centre for grades 1 to 4,” said Mary McGregor, associate superintendent for Sturgeon School Division’s student services said Friday.
The negotiations for the cultural centre lease involve discussions between the two schooling partners — Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board and Sturgeon School Division — as well as Alberta Education and the Town of Morinville, McGregor said.
The short-term lease will only be in place until the end of December. At that time it’s expected there will be two modular classrooms available to be placed adjacent to Georges P. Vanier School, a fact confirmed in a press release issued Thursday by the Catholic division.
“We have offered accessibility for the secular program within the Town, to the Community hall and to modular classrooms that will be positioned next to Georges P. Vanier Elementary School,” the release stated.
Both modular units will be supplied by Alberta Education, one of which had previously been committed for Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools to use at Notre Dame School in Morinville. The approximate cost of each modular unit is $300,000.
Once the modular units are moved to a permanent location, there will be two classroom spaces and a converted classroom in Vanier School, which will be used as an office. The modular units will be connected with hallways.
“Enrolment numbers are soft for now because parents have been waiting to have a school location confirmed. But we estimate 55 preschool to Grade 4 students will be registered,” McGregor said.
There will be two split-grade classes: Grades 1 and 2 in one classroom and Grades 3 and 4 in a second class.
“We hope to have all the moving done over the Christmas break. When the students come back, they will be in attendance at the new modular school,” McGregor said.
The principal of the new K-Grade 4 Morinville School will be Wayne Rufiange, who until June was vice principal at Sturgeon Heights School. Interviews for the new teaching positions will begin in the next week, McGregor said.
Grades 5 to 12 will be bused to existing Sturgeon district schools.
“It will likely be to Namao School although some families living on the west side of Morinville may wish to enrol their children at Camilla School. All high school students will be bused to Sturgeon Composite,” McGregor said, adding that Alberta Education has agreed to pay for busing for the Morinville students, as it has a granting program for transportation for rural students.
“Within town there will be shuttle busing for the younger children,” she said.
Parent Marjorie Kirsop, who has three children aged seven, six and three is happy to hear the school division is moving along with its decision about where the school will be located.
“I think if they confirm the cultural centre that will be great because it has tons of green space and it’s centrally located. My only concern is they are separating the kindergarten and preschoolers from the other grades but if it’s only for a few months it should be OK,” she said.
But she also expressed some concern about registering her children in school if the actual location is not truly confirmed as promised.
“I’m concerned that come December they may say they don’t have the modulars. Parents really need assurance that there is a positive location and the kids need to know too because it’s confusing for them,” Kirsop said.
