The design of a new junior-senior high school in Langdon is complete and a development permit is anticipated by mid-July, according to Rocky View Schools (RVS).
At a June 18 RVS Board of Trustees meeting, Director of Facilities Planning Collette Winter said RVS staff has been working with architects and engineers to finalize the design of the school, which will cater to students in Grades 7 to 12. She added the district hopes the development permit for the school’s construction will be submitted to Rocky View County (RVC) in the coming weeks.
“That is a very fast timeframe and a lot of work is being done,” she said. “In addition to that, this school is located on a joint-use site that was purchased with RVC as well as RVS, and the intention of the site is to have a high school, a recreation centre and some other amenities, like baseball diamonds.”
Despite boasting a population of more than 5,000 people, Langdon does not have its own high school. Langdon residents have been advocating for a high school to be built in the hamlet for years, arguing it is one of the largest communities in Alberta without one. Local students in Grades 10 through 12 are bussed 13 kilometres west to Chestermere High School.
Langdon currently has two schools – Sarah Thompson Elementary School, for students in kindergarten to Grade 5, and Langdon School, which serves students in kindergarten to Grade 9.
After years of advocacy efforts, Langdon residents were rewarded in November 2019, when the provincial government announced funding for the design of Langdon's first high school. Then, in May, the government announced construction funding for the project.
While the school is not expected to open until 2024, Winter said the schematic design is now completed. The two-storey facility will have an area of 8,465 square metres and boast an initial capacity of 900 students.
The school will be located on a 40-acre plot of land behind the Buy-Low Foods on Railway Avenue West. The site is already serviced.
According to Winter, the school’s main floor will be comprised of three wings. The wing on the east side will include spaces for cosmetology, fabrication, automotive, dance, band and multimedia programs, while the academic wing on the south side will feature typical classrooms ands breakout studios allowing for flexibility in teaching and learning.
The school's gymnasium and fitness studio will be located in the west wing.
The “heart” of the school, Winter said, will be a student hub located centrally on the main floor. The hub will include a learning commons, a library, gathering spaces and learning supports, such as the counsellor’s office.
“There is also a smaller student hub upstairs,” she said. “It’s cool because you get to be on the upper level and look down on the learning commons, which will have nice, big, beautiful windows that look north.”
The upper floor will feature an exact replica of the academic wing, as well as a science lab with six classrooms.
A recreation centre is planned to be built adjacent to the new school in the future, which would be connected via a plus-15 walkway.
Patty Sproule, RVS' Langdon-area trustee, said she was excited to see the design, which was “a long time coming.”
“It’s almost two decades [that] this joint-use site has been in place and it’s a big investment by RVS and RVC,” she said.
“It’s modern, it’s inspired and it’s creative – I’m thrilled with it, and my community is going to be really happy.”
Many of the trustees’ questions following the presentation pertained to public-private partnerships (P3s) that will be in place because the school and recreation centre will be located on a joint-use site with RVC. P3s are funding models that divide the building and maintenance costs of new schools between government and private contractors.
Trustee Jodi Hunter asked if RVS is negotiating a better P3 contract to “allow for more flexibility.”
“Some of the P3s we have [in place already] have lots of limitations about what we as a school division can do and not do,” she said.
Winter said RVS has expressed concerns with current P3 arrangements to Alberta Education, adding the provincial government is aware of those concerns and is considering changes to the funding model.
“What exactly those changes are, that’s not our area and we don’t have a lot of say in that,” she said. “But I know they are certainly trying to improve on the process, as well as what happens over the next 50 years.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
