(rdnewsNOW/Ian Gustafson)

By Ian Gustafson

Grade 4-8

Penhold Waskasoo Middle School officially opens its doors

Sep 12, 2025 | 5:04 PM

The Penhold Waskasoo Middle School has officially opened.

A ceremony and ribbon cutting was held Friday afternoon to mark the occasion with Chinook’s Edge School Division students, teachers, staff, and other government dignitaries in attendance.

Principal of the school, Lisa Baird, said getting to this point has been three years in the making. They welcomed students into the school nine days ago.

“It’s been fantastic. They’re opening up every space and every single day something new comes about, a new set of excitement,” she said. “Our playground is currently being built and we’re hoping by the end of next week it will actually be fully functional.”

Construction for the school began just over a year ago and three years ago they received design funding from the provincial government. That all led them to the moment when the keys were handed over at the end of July for the new facility next to the Penhold Multiplex.

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The former Penhold Elementary School, which will be knocked down, was at over capacity but the new building is now home to 420 Grade 4-8 students.

The school was in many ways a community project which involved students and stakeholders. Baird explained they helped decide the schools colours, logo, furniture, and were involved in other decisions.

Chinook’s Edge School Division board chair Holly Bilton said it’s a spectacular day for the division.

“School divisions do not get new schools every day. They’re expensive, time consuming, especially knowing that our metro communities in Edmonton and Calgary need so many schools. We’re just really fortunate to have Penhold Waskasoo be a school for us,” she said.

Bilton explained the division chose Penhold as the site of the new middle school because of the growth the community has seen. Penhold was at the top of the list.

(rdnewsNOW/Ian Gustafson)

The budget for the school was $39 million, according to Bilton.

MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake and Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, Devin Dreeshen, said to see this school receive $39 million from the province shows the importance of central Alberta, as well as the students and staff.

“As a local representative, this means a lot to me as well to see the groundbreaking and to see this beautiful building being built in just under a year is incredible,” he said.

Mayor of Penhold, Mike Yargeau, said the new middle school was something they worked towards for a number of years.

“One of the great things about Penhold is we have a very young average age, we’re a very young community… When we put this school in this location, it adds to the entire area that we’re building here, which in turn adds to what Penhold has to offer for young families looking for somewhere to raise their families,” Yargeau said.

“We’ve got some of the best schools in the province here, so we’re really excited.”