Cochrane’s RancheView School, a kindergarten to Grade 8 school opening in the community of Sunset Ridge, will not be ready for full use this September following construction delays.
“We have worked closely with the school jurisdiction, the Town and the contractor to develop a suitable phased opening plan,” said Aileen Machell, a spokesperson for Alberta infrastructure in an email to the Rocky View Weekly. “There are no additional construction costs anticipated as a result of this delay, which was caused by the late delivery of construction materials to the site.”
The east wing portion of the school – which includes eight portables, washrooms, a staff area and a multi-purpose room – will open as scheduled. That portion will accommodate RancheView’s kindergarten to Grade 2 students.
The remainder of the students scheduled to attend RancheView in September will not join the school until January 2017. Until then, those Grade 3 to 7 students will attend classes at Mitford School in portable classrooms – the “RancheView School at Mitford,” according to Rocky View Schools (RVS) Board Chair Colleen Munro.
“Those students will be at Mitford for half a year – 75 school days. They will be moving as classrooms and teachers,” she said. “They’ll have their teacher, all those classrooms will remain intact. They’ll move from one site to the other as seamless as a transition as possible.
“We know that it’s going to put a wrinkle in some parent’s plans.”
Parents who planned to have their children walk to RancheView but now need to transport them to Mitford will have no transportation fees levied against them, according to Munro.
RancheView will open with Sharon Cronin stepping in as inaugural principal. Cronin, who previously served as principal of École Edwards Elementary School in Airdrie, said the delays wouldn’t impact her plans for the school.
“I always take things in stride. It is what it is. We’ve been working really hard with Mitford and Glenbow School and the Cochrane Christian Academy in terms of creating a very sound plan for moving forward,” she said. “Learning is learning. It doesn’t matter the space that we’re in.”
Two assistant principals will open RancheView with Cronin. Tracey Drummond will work from the east wing of RancheView, while Jonathon Klinger will be stationed at Mitford while construction continues.
“The way (RVS) handled this was appointing me two assistant principals off the bat,” Cronin said. “One will be stationed at each of the sites, with me traveling between them.
“(RancheView) will be very student-centric and focused. We’re focusing on a very strong leadership culture, and looking at being environmental stewards and building leaders for the future.”
The delay is being made public following an October 2015 announcement by Education Minister David Eggen that more than 100 school construction projects across Alberta were behind schedule.
At that point, RVS Manager of School Facilities Peter Garner said consultants assured the division their projects would remain on schedule.
“This is not so much (about that). We weren’t a part of that list. Everything was going according to plan in October (2015),” Munro said. “This was more of a problem that cropped up with this school.”
Airdrie schools Cooper’s Crossing and Heloise Lorimer remain on schedule for September.
