For the third time in recent years, Sacred Heart/Sacré Coeur School is undergoing an expansion.
The Holy Family Roman Catholic School Division announced this past week they have received the green light from the Education Ministry to add another portable classroom on the school’s west side which will link up with the two existing portable classrooms already in place.
Mike Zummach, assistant superintendent of capital operations for Holy Family, told the Mercury the portable unit should be arriving on site in early July and “the goal is for September occupancy if all goes well.”
Work will also get underway for renovations to the existing student washrooms which will facilitate the increase in enrollment being realized in this particular school that also serves as the city’s only elementary school to offer French language immersion programs.
Zummach and Gwen Keith, the division’s director of education, said the Ministry has allowed them a budget of $400,000 for the additional classroom space, but the actual costs may come in closer to $450,000, so the division’s board of trustees has accepted the additional costs which will be included in the upcoming budget.
“Enrollment is up across the division this year and it is expected to continue to increase in both Weyburn and Estevan,” said Keith.
School expansion and renovations in Weyburn have already taken place and more are on the way.
“To maintain the standards, we’ll find the additional money needed to complete the project. A preliminary budget for the addition has been presented to the board,” said Keith.
“Our goals are clear when it comes to student needs and schools. We have to get them there, have a place for them to go when they get there and have a teacher in front of them,” she said.
Keith said Holy Family was fortunate to be assigned two of the 31 portable classrooms being made available this year by the province. The other one is destined for Weyburn.
“The numbers are swelling, it shows optimism in our cities. This indicates people are staying in the communities,” said Keith.
Sacred Heart currently houses 336 students including pre-kindergarten children who attend four days a week. School officials said they are expecting 40 newcomers at the kindergarten level next September while they will lose only 27 Grade 8 students to graduation in the K-8 school. That means a net increase of at least 13 students.
Two years ago an influx of students at the school led to the need to take some temporary measures to accommodate the additional classes. In that case, a resource room (library) space was set aside and partitioned off for a senior French immersion class, which ended once a portable classroom was approved and then attached and put into service.
