Alberta elementary school ditches library and other rooms because of ‘significant growth’

Rocky View Schools says several of its schools, such as Airdrie's École Edwards Elementary, are making changes due to 'significant growth' without provincial support. (File/Google Maps)

Parents of a southern Alberta elementary school are being informed of some big changes that could affect their students’ learning in the fall.

Administration at École Edwards Elementary in Airdrie, Alta., says the school will be adding a grade in September as the institution shifts from a K-5 to a K-6 school.

Enrolment will jump from 675 students to approximately 850, according to a letter sent to families on Monday.

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To accommodate these students, administration said the school’s library, music room and wellness centre will all be converted into classroom space.

In addition, École Edwards says it will adopt a “team-teaching” model for some grades, where multiple teachers will teach students in the larger spaces.

Administrators said a request to the province was made for modular classrooms but “was not approved.”

‘Nooks and shared spaces’

Staff said library books will be moved to different locations throughout the school:

• five classroom libraries will be created in the new Grade 6 classrooms;
• a smaller collection of books will be provided to K-3 students; and
• additional books will be distributed in “nooks and shared spaces.”

“These changes allow us to meet the instructional needs of our students within our existing footprint, while continuing to prioritize access to quality resources and enriching learning environments,” administrators wrote in the letter.

‘Had to be creative’

Rocky View Schools (RVS), the board that operates École Edwards, says the changes at the facility are due to an influx of students in the district.

A spokesperson for RVS said the board has been trying to make do with available resources.

“RVS has been experiencing significant growth for years without new schools or enough modular classrooms to keep pace,” Tara de Weerd, RVS communications director, said in an email to CTV News Tuesday.

“The government recently approved new schools but with the three to four years it takes to build a school and only five modular classrooms approved this year, schools have had to be creative about balancing space within their schools maximizing every single room.”

de Weerd says other schools in the district have had to make similar moves to École Edwards.

“I can assure you our administrators do an excellent job of continuing to prioritize literacy, wellness and other important aspects of student learning,” she said.

de Weerd said a year ago, RVS announced it needed to adjust school boundaries and grade configurations in Airdrie to address enrollment pressures.

“While we hoped that École Edwards Elementary would get some additional space via two more modular classrooms, unfortunately the request was not approved by the government,” she said.

“While we look forward to future space relief with two new Airdrie K-9 schools recently approved by the provincial government, they will take two to three years to open.”

She says it will continue to lobby the province for more modular classrooms.

Meanwhile, École Edwards says classrooms will be packing up and moving to the new spaces throughout June.

“We recognize that change can bring many emotions. Our focus is to ensure all students feel supported, valued and excited about their learning experience at École Edwards,” officials said.

Gov’t committed to building schools

In a statement to CTV News about the enrolment problem at École Edwards and other RVS schools, Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the province’s role is to provide legislation, funding and ensure accountability.

All operating procedures are left up to the boards.

“To create student spaces where they are needed most in the coming school year, we are investing $50 million to provide modular classrooms to 19 school boards. This funding will create 50 new modular units and relocate 19 others to provide more than 1,650 new and relocated student spaces in some of Alberta’s fastest-growing communities,” Nicolaides said in a statement.

The funding will see RVS receive five new modular classrooms and the money to relocate another.

Nicolaides said all school boards submit modular unit requests on Nov. 1 each year and, based on funding, those units are approved and installed the following year.

The requests are considered based on health and safety, enrolment growth, program requirements and those in need of replacement.

Nicolaides said the government is committed to building needed school as soon as possible.

“Last fall, Alberta’s government announced an $8.6-billion plan to speed up school construction and build and renovate more than 100 schools.

“There are eight school projects currently underway in Rocky View School Division.”