The Holy Spirit Catholic School Division and Board of Trustees is getting ready for the exciting construction of our new West Lethbridge Elementary School and its opening in 2026. To prepare for this opening, we will be adjusting our attendance areas to ensure enrollment in this new school and others across Lethbridge is equalized. Due to increased enrollment across the division, we must also use this opportunity to alleviate enrollment pressures at schools across Lethbridge.
Holy Spirit's Board Chair, Dr. Carmen Mombourquette, states "In each of the past three years our school division has grown in student enrollment equal to the size of a small elementary school. A benefit that will come with this new school will be an easing of the space crunch being faced in many of our schools."
To ensure everyone's needs are being met, we will be involving parents from all Lethbridge Holy Spirit Catholic School Division schools in the decision making process before we begin developing a plan. This will include Board of Trustee led community consultations on how to make these changes in a manner that best supports all students. We will use this feedback from the initial round of community consultations to inform the design of a tentative plan, which will once again be consulted on with parents prior to finalization. Parents will receive a direct invitation to the first community consultation via SchoolMessenger in early January 2025.
Mombourquette, affirms, "Through the process for setting new attendance boundaries parents will be first consulted and then a plan of action will follow. Parent voice is extremely important and valued and that is why we will talk first, show the current attendance data, get suggestions on a way forward, and then plan. We look forward to the engagement sessions and to hearing from you."
The new West Lethbridge Elementary School is a large project that we at the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division are excited to bring to the City of Lethbridge. Construction is anticipated to begin in fall of 2025 and expected to be fully operational and welcoming students in September 2026. The funding for the new West Lethbridge School was announced on April 27, 2023 prior to the Province of Alberta's September 2024 funding announcement of $8.6 billion to build new schools in Alberta. The address of the new school is 423 Caledonia Blvd West. To view the exterior design of the new school as well as the interior floor plan and location, Click Here.
Sincerely,
Dr. Carmen Mombourquette, Board Chair
Holy Spirit Catholic School Division Board of Trustees