REGINA — As a new school year unfolds, there are a number of priorities facing Regina Public School Division as kids head back.
For students and teachers, most schools now hold Backpack days, which Regina Public School Board chair Adam Hicks says give kids a chance to meet their teacher and find their classroom before school starts. It is also an opportunity to drop off supplies.
“Backpack days, if you're a parent, it's a new opportunity that most of our schools do now,” Hicks said, noting that “our staff do this out of their own time.”
Hicks said Backpack days happen after hours “where you get to meet your teacher in a more informal way and especially for kindergarten to Grade 3.”
“It's a way to just ease into it. You're not pressured on day one. You get to see where your classroom is, where your spot is.”
Beyond that, Hicks said a major issue the division faces is classroom complexity.
“We have the data to show it has been increasing, especially in the urban board,” he said. “So the four urban boards — Regina Public, Saskatoon Public, Regina Catholic and Saskatoon Catholic — most families come to the big centres for the extra supports there are. And that puts a lot of extra pressure on our school systems that have extra programs for intensive-need students.”
Hicks said they have “about 21 specialized programs across all 60 of our schools, and those continue to see increases year after year.”
He pointed to Imperial School as an example, where trustees recently spent half a day sitting in classrooms. They learned that “one out of five students has an adaptive learning plan in place, which means they have some type of extra needs above an average student.”
“So when you have one out of five students in an entire elementary school with those extra needs, we know that we can utilize the extra support the minister (Everett Hindley) has been providing recently, and I know we can use even more in the future. But that is something that's always top of mind, especially as we go back to the new school year, because teachers are having to figure out what the new needs of those students are, and they're relearning how to work with those students that have those special adaptive plans.
“Lots on the plate, and I feel for our 3,300 staff that we have that are going back after a nice break. They got their work cut out for them, that's for sure.”
For Imperial School students, they will be enrolling in a new school as of Sept. 2.
The new Tawâw School opens that day and will replace both Imperial and McDermid schools. As for the old Imperial School, Hicks said it is no more.
“It actually was torn down. If you haven't been on Broad (St.), I was there last week when the bulldozers were in there. It was sad seeing that,” he said.
“But the new school behind it is fully open. Our principal has been amazing in getting that space ready to go, and we are so excited. That, again, is thanks to the government for the support for that building, and the Catholic system.”
The new school will be a joint-use facility, with Tawâw School sharing the building with St. Raphael School of the Catholic system, which will hold students from St. Michael and St. Peter schools.
Construction continues on the Catholic school side, with students set to move in by January 2026. In the meantime, St. Raphael School will operate out of the former St. Peter and St. Michael locations.
