Holy Spirit Catholic School Division is revising attendance boundaries

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – Lethbridge Herald on October 30, 2024.

Submitted photo – An exterior rendering of the new west side elementary school provided by the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division.

LETHBRIDGE HERALD[email protected]

The Holy Spirit Catholic School Division announced Tuesday that they will begin consulting with parents about classroom locations ahead of the opening of the new West Lethbridge Elementary School in the fall of 2026.

Carmen Mombourquette, board chair, told the Herald during a telephone interview Tuesday that the division has experienced unprecedented student enrollment growth and to ensure equal enrollment at this new school and others in the city, they will attendance areas reviewed.

“So many of our schools, especially in the city of Lethbridge, are filling up quite quickly and with a new elementary school opening in far west Lethbridge, administrators felt it was time to review all the schools. our presence limits,” said Mombourquette.

He said this revision will allow them to distribute student numbers more equitably, while also ensuring their primary focus is on caring for students and their families.

Mombourquette added that they will review the school boundaries for the new school as every school in the city has boundaries based on the neighborhood the school is located in, but within the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division there are some schools with students from outside . mentioned boundaries such as the St. Patrick Fine Arts School or the Ecole St. Marie School.

He added that the transport company would also have a map showing that if students live at a particular address and are in primary school, the bus would take them to the specific school in their area.

“The question now is: how can we ensure that our schools have enough space to accommodate all students? And one way to do that is to look at the visitor boundaries,” Mombourquette said.

He said this will also ensure that students attend a school that best suits them based on the distance from their home, with the option to walk to school.

“For example, right now, Father Leonard Van Tighem is serving students from as far south as the West Side to as far north as the West Side,” Mombourquette said.

He added that the boundary for the other two primary schools covers a slightly smaller area. St. Patrick Fine Arts School covers the Riverstone, Paradise Canyon and part of Sundridge neighborhoods, while Children of St. Martha’s Elementary School covers the area west and south of Copperwood.

“With the new school opening just west and north of the YMCA, we need to look at how we can realign the boundaries on the west side, but also how all schools in the city of Lethbridge can meet the need, student interests and ensuring that we have space for all children in all of our schools,” said Mombourquette.

He said the way they will prepare for the new school is by consulting with parents, not only about its boundaries, but also its naming.

“We try to make sure that we take into account parents’ interest in the children and the exposure they would like to have to a particular programming, by accessing buildings that can accommodate the needs of students, as well as the student population “, said Mombourquette.

He added that they also want to make sure that they have a transportation system that is still within the financial envelope that they received from the government to transport those students.

“The part that the Holy Spirit Catholic School chapter really wants to emphasize is that we are going to be having a series of parent meetings, especially in the city of Lethbridge as we start to approach this attendance limit,” Mombourquette said.

He added that they are not going to present a preliminary plan to parents at the first meeting with parents, but they will go to that first meeting to hear what parents have to say.

“And based on what they’re saying, as well as all the other demographic factors, we’re going to come up with a preliminary plan,” Mombourquette said.

He said the first meeting will take place sometime in January 2025.

“We want to seek guidance, advice and thoughts first, then we go to the drawing board to create a preliminary plan and once we’ve developed that, we go back to the parent community to share what that plan might be. Look forward to it and ask for some further insights and guidance from them, and bring that back to the planning commission before it goes to the Board of Supervisors for finalization,” Mombourquette said.

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