By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

Holy Spirit enrollment up slightly, but misses projections

Sep 28, 2018 | 9:45 AM

LETHBRIDGE – While the need for a new west-side school is only growing, that growth in the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic School Division is being tempered by people moving away from other areas.

Superintendent Chris Smeaton told LethbridgeNewsNOW in an interview that total attendance for the school division, which includes Lethbridge and several surrounding communities, will likely be just over 5,000 students. While that’s an increase of 30-40 over last year, it’s below projections.

“We had 105 students move out of our school division to different towns throughout Alberta and outside, which I think is a sign of the economy,” Smeaton said. “And the other piece that’s impacting us is, we just have no room to grow on the west side, which is the highest growth rate in Lethbridge, and we certainly have asked for a new school and we need one – tomorrow.”

In particular, he said 15 students at St. Catherine School in Picture Butte left due to their families moving away, and that hits such a small school especially hard.

Lethbridge, meanwhile, hasn’t seen a new school built by Holy Spirit since St. Teresa of Calcutta in the north side Legacy Ridge neighbourhood. Smeaton said the north side generally is doing well, with a new all-day kindergarten program begun at St. Paul. Growth is not expected in the south side, though he highlighted Our Lady of the Assumption as a “little treasure.”

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But on the west side, they’ve been trying to get a new school approved for nearly five years.

“We aren’t able to put any design work in until we actually get approval. But the beauty of the two school divisions in the city is we work very collaboratively together. There is a space out in west Lethbridge that the city’s ready to move on, and everybody’s just waiting for the province to make a decision, to say, yes, Holy Spirit Catholic needs a school in that west Lethbridge area.”

Improvements that have been made this fall include a $6 million modernization of St. Patrick School in Taber and those students have been moved back to the facility.

“We’re very excited to be able to showcase what a new school, or a modernized school, should look like,” he said.

Smeaton also highlighted the new Early Learning Centre on the north side. It includes a play centre and a fenced-in outdoor play area, to emphasize the importance of play in a child’s development, he said.

by Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

Holy Spirit enrollment up slightly, but misses projections

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