Starting the 2020-21 school year and until construction of the two new schools in Condor and Leslieville have been completed, all K-12 students in the corridor will be placed at DTHS. Although we are bringing students and staff together from three separate school buildings (Condor, Leslieville and DTHS), there will only be two schools operating: Condor Elementary (all K-6 students) and DTHS (all students in grades 7-12). By Board motion, the Leslieville School K-7 program will no longer exist after June 30, 2020.

Despite bringing all students and staff together into one building for a couple of years, we have a plan in place that will allow us to continue providing excellent instruction and support for all K-12 students during this time of transition. Below are answers to some frequently asked questions and concerns regarding this plan.

1. How will WRSD fit all of the students and staff from Leslieville and Condor into DTHS?
• DTHS currently has a utilization rate of only 47%. In addition, we will be adding 5 portable classrooms to DTHS in preparation for 2020-21. Together, this will give us enough classrooms for all K-12 classes. Total staff numbers and class sizes will be similar to what they were when all three schools were separate.
• Please see our floor plan with grade configurations.

    2. Where will each school have their office space?

• The school administrators will each have their own offices but the schools will share a common office for their administrative support staff.  The elementary admin offices will be located across from the current Learning Commons space in the former Family Wellness Worker office and the high school administrative offices will remain in their current location.

    3.  Will there be changes to grade configurations next year (e.g. split grade classes)?

• Split-grade or multi-graded classes will be used only if it helps to keep class numbers lower and balanced across grades. This is a common strategy used in many schools across the division. For example if a school has 36 students in grade 5 and 36 students in grade 6, our funding does not allow us to split them into two grade 5 classes of 18 students and two grade 6 classes of 18 students. This would require 4 teachers and is not affordable. Instead, schools will often create 3 classes of 24 students each: one grade 5 class, one grade 5/6 class and one grade 6 class. 

    4.  Will there be changes to programming? In particular, will high school students continue to have access to CTS programming?

• CTS programming and classes will continue for the students at DTHS.

    5.  How will the gymnasium be shared?

• DTHS will schedule classes in the morning.
• Condor Elementary will have the gym all afternoon. This will allow for 5 classes of 35 minutes each. There will also be an option to have two elementary classes in the gym at the same time due to the larger dimensions of the DTHS gym compared to the Leslieville and Condor gyms. The Leslieville and Condor gyms are approximately 295 square meters while the DTHS gym is approximately 511 square meters.

    6.  What will happen to the sports teams?

• Competitive athletic teams will continue to operate with priority given to the high school and junior high teams.

    7.  Will there be a playground for the elementary students and where will it be located?

• Per the diagram, a new playground will be located at the north side of the school. This playground will be moved to the new Condor Elementary School once construction has been completed.
• Please see our site map for further details.

    8.  How will we keep our elementary students safe, given the school is right beside the highway?

• Fencing will be installed as a safety barrier between our students and the highway. All school entrance doors will be locked from the outside with the exception of the main front door. This will ensure that all guests must enter the school by way of the front door where they will be asked to sign in. School staff will also be outside supervising students during recess breaks. 
• Please see our site map for further details.

    9.  What are we doing to keep the elementary students separate from the high school students?

• There are K-12 schools all across the province of Alberta including one other such school in our division at Caroline.
• Primary grades will be grouped in one part of the building, upper elementary in another part while junior high and high school classes are grouped in still another part of the school. Please see our floor plan with grade configurations
• However, there will be some shared common spaces like the gym.
• Separate breaks and lunch times for younger and older grades.
• Younger students will load the buses first, prior to the older students.
• Staff will provide close supervision both inside and outside the school.
• Having K-12 students together in one building will also provide the advantages of some supervised mentorship opportunities i.e.) a high school student helping out in an elementary classroom.

    10.  Where will staff and student parking be located? How can you ensure safety for the younger grades?

• Please see our site map for further details.

    11.  What measures will the school division take to monitor the lagoon?

• We have been given a two year extension by Alberta Municipal Affairs to continue to use the existing wastewater lagoon to service DTHS. The wastewater lagoon shall cease operation and decommissioning must begin by or before December 31, 2023.
• Our Facilities department will establish a baseline level and monitor the level of the lagoon on a weekly basis. If we find the levels to be unacceptable then we will arrange for trucking to control the effluent levels in the lagoon.

    12.  Will parents/students have a chance to enter Condor and/or Leslieville one last time before the schools are demolished?

• Alberta Infrastructure will be managing this project and will begin work on the demolition process as soon possible. In a typical year there would have been an opportunity for students, staff and the community to have a final farewell event at these respective schools. However, with the current restrictions around group gatherings due to COVID-19 it will likely not be possible for such events prior to demolition.

    13.  Will the division be selling items from the schools (e.g. gym floor, windows)?

• Given the liability and potential hazards of allowing people to remove materials from the school sites, the removal and sale of building materials will be decided, scheduled and coordinated by the demolition contractor. Wild Rose School Division will have little authority in this matter once the demolition contract has been awarded.

    14.  What will happen to the skating rink, ball diamonds and playgrounds during the construction phase? Can they be used during construction?

• As Condor and Leslieville sites will be under the control of the general contractor, WRSD cannot ensure the communities will have site access and services (ie. power connection for rink lights) during the time of construction.  We understand the importance of these community facilities and will ask the general contractor to allow access where and when it is safe to do so.

    15.  Will there be changes to student ride times or bus routes?

• You can expect some changes to pick up and drop off times. Each year our Transportation Department finalizes bus routes for the coming year in late spring/early summer.

    16.  Can parents drop off and pick up students from DTHS?  Could there be a bus that parents could meet up with in Leslieville and Condor?

• Parents will be able to drop off and pick up students at DTHS at a location away from where the buses will be parking (see attached map). We need to make sure parent vehicles are not impeding our buses or creating any unsafe conditions for students who are either getting on a bus or getting into a parent vehicle at the end of the school day.
• All students in the current Condor, Leslieville and DTHS attendance areas will receive bus service to DTHS. There will be a designated bus stop in both Condor and Leslieville for students living in those hamlets. All other students living outside of the hamlets will receive bus service from their homes. 

    17.  What will happen with the DT playschool?

• Since the DT playschool (modular) is on the Condor site, in order to move forward with the school capital project (decanting, demolition and construction of a new elementary building), WRSD has advised the DT playschool committee that the modular must be removed from the site by the end of June 2020.
• If there are specific questions, regarding the program offered by the playschool for the 2020-21 school year, please contact the DT playschool committee.

    18.  What will be the names of the 2 new schools?

• The WRSD Board of Trustees recently approved new policy Appendix C: Naming of Facilities. Using this appendix, the Superintendent of Schools will form a committee composed of representatives from various stakeholders including staff, parents and students (where applicable). This committee will determine the best way to invite and review public input regarding possible names for both new schools, after which, they will make recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees will consider the recommendations of the committee and then make a final decision regarding the names of the two schools.

We hope this answers many of the concerns students and parents may have regarding our plans for all corridor K-12 students starting the 2020-21 school year. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us at (403) 845-3376 or ContactUs@wrsd.ca. While it is true that our students and staff will feel a bit more crowded over the next couple years compared to previous years, we can assure you that all legislated health and safety regulations, staffing levels and quality of instruction will be maintained. Best of all, once construction is complete, all K-12 students and staff in the corridor will be moving into brand-new modern school facilities!