After five years of planning, construction, and demolition, staff and students at Humboldt Public School (HPS) held a grand opening for their renovated facility on Nov. 21. The day included speakers on behalf of the school staff, the city, the students, the school division and the new, connected daycare centre.
The stage was festooned in balloons and the excitement from the speakers was obvious as they explained what the new facility offered to the students.
“What I hear from students is that they like the space and they like the fact that there’s a large lunch area,” said HPS principal, Dave Hill. “Of course the gym, they just love. And that was really one of the bonuses of moving into an existing building, is that we got a high school gym for an elementary school.”
He added that Grade 7 students are also excited for Home Ec. and Industrial Arts, which the school can now offer because of the new space.
There have been a lot of changes in Humboldt schools. After Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) and the Carlton Trail College moved into their new facility by the Uniplex, construction on the new HPS began in the former HCI building, although staff and students remained at the old building. Construction crews demolished about 2/3 of the old high school, leaving the west wing, the Carlton Trail College section, the gym, and the back part, connected by a new library and hallway.
“The old building was a hundred years old and it was really showing its age,” Hill said.
“We also have gotten to the point where we’ve grown. Just like Humboldt is growing, our school is growing.”
He added that at the time the project started five years ago, there were 201 students. Now, there are 280.
Staff and students moved over to the new school last November, but that wasn’t without its challenges.
“It was tight and close because we were using rooms that weren’t meant to be classrooms; just about every room was filled with kids,” Hill said. “We were right on top of each other so it was a bit of a stressful time … we were in this new, clean space so in that way it was really good.”
This year, work on a new daycare facility - which is set to open in February - was completed in an area that used to house office space, some classrooms, and a library. The daycare is brand new for the school. Horizon School Division wanted to run the daycare but that didn’t pan out because of regulations. Instead, a board was formed and has maintained a close relationship with the school.
Hill said the partnership benefits both: the daycare gets the space and use of the facilities, while students at HPS may get to help out with the daycare, and staff gets to be acquainted with children who will attend the school earlier.
“The province is kind of moving towards that idea of early learning, play and exploration, getting to know the kids as young as we can, and getting them prepared for school,” Hill said. “It allows us to reach out to the little ones and lets us meet the parents. It just helps.”
It’s been a long road to get to the grand opening, so how does Hill feel about everything being completed?
“I can say it in one word: great,” he laughed. He added that it was interesting to be involved in the project process and “look at the world from a very different perspective.”
“It’s been an exciting five years, it really has,” he said. “And when you see what we’ve ended up with, all the hard work was really, really worth it. Today was a celebration. Today was great.”
