Subscribe to the 100% free rdnewsNOW daily newsletter!
Sylvan Lake, Blackfalds, & Red Deer

Red Deer Catholic presents Three-Year Capital Plan: Sylvan Lake high school top priority

Apr 10, 2024 | 4:16 PM

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools’ (RDCRS) Board of Trustees approved their Three-Year Capital Plan on Tuesday.

Presented by the Associate Superintendent of System Services, they listed their two distinct needs as New Construction/ Additions and Preservation/ Modernization.

The top priorities are:

1. New Grade 9 – 12 school in Sylvan Lake

2. New Grade 9 – 12 school in Blackfalds

3. New Kindergarten – Grade 5 school in Red Deer

RDCRS notes that populations in Red Deer, and particularly in Sylvan Lake and Blackfalds, continue to rise, while Rocky Mountain House, Innisfail/Bowden, Olds/Didsbury, and the four counties show fluctuation.

They say a new high school for Grades 9-12 in Sylvan Lake, in partnership with Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) and the Town of Sylvan Lake, is now their highest priority as families have been contacting the Board requesting a high school in the Town so their children could remain in the community for the duration of their school years.

The Board says they have contacted CESD, proposing a partnership similar to their middle school in Sylvan Lake and high school in Rocky Mountain House. Although RDCRS’ two schools in the Town are not at capacity just yet, the Board feels that a new high school is feasible, with an expectation of 325 students at a preferred opening in September 2028.

While RDCRS was recently awarded funding for a new Kindergarten to Grade 5 school in the Town of Blackfalds, the Board says they are in need of their first high school in the town to alleviate the growth in students being transported to catholic high schools in Red Deer. They would like to see the school ready for 500 students by September 2029.

READ: Province announces full construction funding for new K-5 Catholic school in Blackfalds

Finally, the Board says a new Kindergarten to Grade 5 school will be required in the City of Red Deer to alleviate the continued growth that is occurring. They say Father Henri Voisin School is now at full build with the final three modular classrooms occupied in the 2018-19 school year and all elementary schools within the City are at full build out with no further room for expansion. They expect to have a new school occupied by September 2030.

Other priorities in their 10-year capital plan include a new K-5 school for Sylvan Lake, a new middle school in Blackfalds, and a new K-9 school in Innisfail.

For the full plan, click here.

—–

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter, and download the rdnewsNOW mobile app on Google Play and the Apple App Store for all the latest updates on this and other stories.