Official enrolment numbers are expected to be up in the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division this year compared with the 2013-14 academic year.
Gwen Keith, director of education for Holy Family, said that when the official count is taken near the end of the month, she expects the separate school division that serves the southeastern sector of the province will be around 1,200, an increase of about 100 students.
The division includes two elementary schools in Estevan, as well as one each in Weyburn, Radville and Wilcox.
In terms of facility needs, Keith said "the pressure points are St. Michael's School in Weyburn and Sacred Heart/Sacré Coeur in Estevan. We may have to make some short-term adjustments and then plan longer term fixes for these schools," she said, referring to recent renovations and additions made to St. Michael's to accommodate students from a former Catholic-based school, St. Dominic's that closed last year.
Sacred Heart, on the other hand, is the only French immersion elementary school in Estevan and it is expected that well over 300 children will be registered there this year with about half of them enrolled in the courses that are delivered in French. The school was originally built and renovated to accommodate 260 to 280 students from kindergarten to Grade 8, but as many as 320 could be registered by the end of this month.
Past increases in enrolments were accommodated by the addition of portable classrooms, the last coming on stream last year.
"Nothing has been approved by the board so far, but they will have to address the Sacred Heart need. It's a good problem to have, but it's still a problem," Keith said.
Adding more staff members is something that has been addressed, she said, with the division welcoming about 10 newcomers to the overall picture.
"We have two new teachers at Sacred Heart this year, Akeela Jundt and Andrea Skelton. There is no major change or additions to St. Mary's School in Estevan. We have a core French program in that school that needs a full-time teacher. We have a substitute teacher hired at this point, so the position is filled for now."
By the end of the month, all 28 school divisions in the province must have their official enrolment numbers filed with the Ministry of Education, since those numbers are the ones used in the provincial funding formula that decides how much each division will receive to conduct their 950 hours of academic instruction between Sept. 2 and the end of June, 2015.
In terms of increasing enrolments, Keith said the division saw an increase of about 65 last school year and that didn't come as a surprise, so an equal or slightly larger increase in registrations isn't going to place any unexpected pressure on the governing or administrative bodies.
"We'll monitor St. Michael's and Sacred Heart closely. We'll want to know what's going on in their communities as well as what's going on in the ministry," she said, adding that she had already arranged a meeting with the Sacred Heart School Community Council, which will help her assess what their priorities are and where they want to move things in terms of educational development and accommodating a fresh influx of young students.
"I also want them to be aware of what the government is saying, or will be saying about funding."
The French immersion program is accelerating in popularity, as are core French classes in the Holy Family structure. How these classes are delivered is important to Keith and all the other administrators and trustees.
On the Weyburn front, Keith said the division is currently trying to sell St. Dominic's School. The funds derived from the sale mostly belong to the province, but there is an understanding that the money is usually moved back into the division that is directly involved to advance their particular educational needs.
The educational sector plan is in place and there is "an incredible push to reach targets and solve problems that are shared with other school divisions because when it comes right down to it, we all care very deeply about every child who is being educated in this province," said Keith.
