Alberta’s first Spanish bilingual school celebrates 25 years with student-led fiesta

Escuela Mill Creek students perform dances from Spanish-speaking countries around the world on June 5, 2026. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

A south-central Edmonton school is celebrating 25 years of Spanish bilingualism with a rainy-day fiesta.

Escuela Mill Creek, or Mill Creek School, offers the International Spanish Academy for students from Kindergarten to Grade 6. Half the day is taught in Spanish while the other is taught in English.

“By the time our students are in Grade 6, they’re fully bilingual,” said teacher Valeria Guajardo. Friday’s festivities were an emotional day for her as her students partook in Latin American celebrations of costume, music and dance.

Escuela Mill Creek was up for closure in 2001, a year after Guajardo first joined the school, because it was new and had dwindling numbers.

Today, the school boasts 340 students.

Iona, a Grade 5 student dancing alongside her peers on Friday, says the program is full of the “nicest teachers (she’s) ever had.”

“It’s a very useful language to learn. I think it’s more useful than French, since there’re so many countries around the world that lots of people travel to, that speak Spanish fluently,” she said. “It’s such a beautiful language.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall