St. Agnes School’s library has been a makeshift classroom for some students since the school year began, but they will soon move into a new relocatable classroom once it has been fully installed.
Enrolment at the school during the past few years has exceeded projections, explained Sean Chase, director of education for Holy Trinity Catholic School Division. The division estimated that the school would have at least 330 students this year, but as of Sept. 23, there were 339 students calling the building home.
Last year St. Agnes School had a student population of 328, which was considered a large number even then.
“(This is) a great news story in that community,” Chase said recently.
The school division applied to the Ministry of Education last November for a relocatable — or portable — classroom. The request was approved in the 2019 March budget.
The ministry provides funding to school division to purchase relocatable units. It cost $440,000 to bring in the new portable classroom. However, after going through a tender process, the Catholic division discovered it would cost closer to $500,000. Therefore, it had to provide additional funding from its bank account to complete the project.
The division purchased the relocatable unit and had it delivered to the school over the summer. However, division administration realized the room wouldn’t be ready by September due to weather issues, Chase said. Work still needs to be completed around the base of the structure, including near the crawl space under the classroom. The recent rains have hampered the contractor’s completion efforts.
“We are hopeful to have the students fully moved in within a couple of weeks,” Chase added.
A class of students has been meeting in the library regularly since Sept. 3 while waiting for their new classroom to be ready. New desks have been purchased and are ready to be moved into the new room.
Chase visited that particular class recently and brought treats as a way to thank them for their patience.
“As we typically forget sometimes as adults, kids are very good and adept at making the best of the situation … they thought it was pretty cool that they were in the library right now,” he said. “Their classroom teacher did a wonderful job of creating a welcoming space for them there and the school has been doing an excellent job as well … .”
Holy Trinity Catholic School Division has also seen a growth in enrolment during the past few years. As of Sept. 23, the division had 2,382 students enrolled in its schools in Swift Current, Shaunavon and Moose Jaw. This number is 40 students beyond its projection and exceeds division enrolment for last year.
“We’re excited for that number (of 2,382 students) … ,” Chase added. “It has been a positive trend for our school division.”
