By rdnewsNOW staff

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools

St. Gabriel Online School to close Aug. 15

Jun 24, 2020 | 2:59 PM

The Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Board of Trustees has voted to permanently close St. Gabriel Online School.

The school will close for good August 15 following the completion of summer programming.

The district says the decision to close the school was made in response to a change in the way the Alberta Government will be funding education, specifically online (or distance) education. Officials say a fully online school is no longer a viable option for the division as a result of this change.

Board Chair Anne Marie Watson says closing St. Gabriel Online School was a difficult decision and that several alternatives were considered, along with stakeholder feedback.

“In the end, we feel that moving the online learning into our high schools is the best compromise possible and will continue to serve our students well, whether they’re taking one or two blended learning classes or their entire education online,” Watson said in a release. “We thank all stakeholders for sharing their stories, concerns, and ideas. We also thank our staff who worked at St. Gabriel Online School over the years, making meaningful connections with students through excellent distance and online education.”

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Moving forward, Red Deer Catholic says online courses will be delivered through École Secondaire Notre Dame High School and St. Joseph High School in Red Deer, and St. Dominic Catholic High School in Rocky Mountain House.

“Our high schools have had a rich history of supporting students who wish to take online courses to supplement their high school journey. All three high schools are well equipped to continue this rich legacy of online delivery,” said Kathleen Finnigan, Interim Superintendent of Schools.

The district says there will be 18 teachers supporting online learning at the high school level: four online learning specialists supporting students in the core subject areas (English, Math, Social and the Sciences) in addition to 14 teachers offering online non-core courses (Religion, CALM, CTS and physical education programs).

The lease at St. Gabriel Learning Centre, which housed both St. Gabriel Online School and St. John Paul II Outreach School in downtown Red Deer is also ending on June 30.

St. John Paul II Outreach School will move to St. Benedict the Moor Centre (on 39 Street between Maryview and St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School) and will continue to be the district’s hub for outreach programming and new students looking for flexible learning opportunities.

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