Beiseker School Principal Fraser Montgomery, Assistant Principal Bob Rodgers and Rocky View Schools (RVS) Trustee Norma Lang were on hand at the April 15 Irricana council meeting to discuss the new administration’s direction for the school.
“We are very excited to be the new administration team over at Beiseker,” Montgomery said.
The school is well into its second year as a full kindergarten to Grade 12 facility and Rodgers said the school community is still learning how to unite the students as one student body.
“Instead of two schools in one building we are trying to make a cohesive single entity,” he told council.
Part of creating connections in the school included the Tree of Giving Christmas initiative that had all students working towards the same goal, albeit in differing age-appropriate capacities, and the Christmas Extravaganza, which was a school-wide assembly and talent show.
“If kids aren’t feeling comfortable in their school … learning is not going to happen,” Rodgers said.
“We are faced with a different kind of learner than when we went to school,” Montgomery said of student engagement.
He told council learners today like to know what they are learning and how the curriculum applies to real life.
The principal said a big part of engaging today’s students is through the effective use of technology as a tool to enhance learning, which is something the school is moving towards.
“We have grand plans but it’s one step at a time,” Montgomery said.
Trustee Norma Lang reported a 1,500-square-foot addition to Beiseker School is on the 2014 to 2017 Capital Plan as a project the board would like to fund via alternative RVS funding such as community partnerships. Though the plan has yet to be approved by Alberta Education, there are high hopes for completing the addition, according to Lang.
She also addressed a planned subdivision in Kathyrn, which appears to be moving forward quickly. The expansion in the hamlet is expected to put a strain on Kathyrn School, which means another elementary school will be required for the area, she said.
Lang added she would like to see a starter elementary school in Irricana on the 2015 to 2018 Capital Plan to address the pending accommodation crisis in the area.
“I don’t want to give false hope,” she said, “but if we had our draw that is what we’d do.”
