Tsuut’ina Nation starts construction on $18M state-of-the-art high school
With only one school combining junior and senior high grades, the Tsuut’ina Nation is starting construction on a new state-of-the-art high school for up to 300 students set to open in the fall.
“It’s actually a project we’ve been wanting to do for nearly 25 years,” band spokesman Kevin Littlelight said on the heels of a sod-turning ceremony for the school Wednesday.
“We are full in our schools. Our daycares and preschools, too, are full, so we will have no problem filling this.”
The $18-million project, funded by the federal government, will go up near the Sarcee Seven Chiefs Sportsplex at the south end of the reserve. The 4,000-square-metre school will feature computer labs, science labs, a theatre and gymnasium with locker-rooms.
Programming will include all Alberta Education core courses, but also focus on Aboriginal learning and local history.
“We will teach the students about living off the land, learning from an Aboriginal perspective,” Littlelight said. “It’s so important that we tell our history, to give the kids a real sense of belonging and how they fit into this area locally. They’ve got to know who they are and where they are.”
Littlelight said the new high school has been badly needed for years, with only one elementary for K-6 students holding up to 300 students, and one school for grades 7 to 12 holding about 100 students.
“We also have some kids coming off the reserve into our schools.
“But we are growing here. We are doing well economically ... and we’re having a lot of kids. We have a very high birth rate.”
Littlelight said the project will be a team effort shared by band administrators, architects and a local construction firm.
We will teach the students about living off the land.