Holy Spirit school division seeing higher enrolment

Holy Spirit Catholic School Division board chair Carmen Mombourquette, says 2023 was marked with many highlights and accomplishments designed to better meet the evolving needs of students.

“When surveyed in the spring parents, students and teachers indicated that our schools are safe, caring and welcoming,” said Mombourquette in a recent interview.

He said the Catholic school system takes students out into the community to bring their faith to others.

“In a recent newsletter from Catholic Central High School, the principal indicated that since its inception, the Christmas hampers program has now reached a total of $600,000 in donations that go back out into the community,” said Mombourquette.

He said students at all their Catholic schools have embraced their responsibility to care for others, just as the school community cares for them.

Mombourquette said survey data also indicated that parents, students and teachers recognize the division’s schools continue to offer a high quality of education and this data is backed with solid provincial achievement testing results and diploma exam results.

“Included in the data around quality of education, is the tremendous impact that caring and dedicated teachers and staff are having on self-declared Indigenous students. We know that Indigenous students who enter and stay in our schools, graduate with the same success rate as all other children,” said Mombourquette.

He said the next steps for the division includes making an even bigger impact with their more transient students because once they can get them to stay enrolled, they also will graduate from high school.

Mombourquette said with the return to a more normal state of affairs in their schools as a result of the declining influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in student enrolment.

“Year over year, we have seen an increase in almost 250 new students choosing a Holy Spirit school. In so many ways this is equivalent to adding an entire new elementary school to the division. This student growth has been particularly felt in West Lethbridge and the

Alberta Education announcement of a new Catholic school for this part of the city was very well-timed,” said Mombourquette. He said even though the new school is just in the planning stages, Holy Spirit is hopeful to have everything ready for a groundbreaking ceremony this fall. Mombourquette said the growth has also impacted one of their oldest schools in the city – St. Francis Junior High School- which is experiencing record enrolment numbers.

“The building itself cries out for a major overhaul – the St. Francis building needs to be brought up to 21st century standards so as to meet the cutting-edge programming that the staff offers to the students,” said Mombourquette.

As a board of trustees, Mombourquette said they have had numerous conversations with local MLA’s, Alberta Education officials and the new Minister of Education around what is known as the weighted moving average, and how the WMA has not kept pace with providing schools the funding needed to keep up with needed resources. The Minister of Education has been very supportive of our need here in Holy Spirit and recognizes that a funding mechanism designed for falling enrolment does not provide the flexibility required to meet new need coming from drastic increase. As a board we are hopeful that the 2024 provincial budget will adjust the WMA.”

Mombourquette said some ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be felt academically in 2023, particularly in those who are now in Grade 4.

“They were the students who missed much of their kindergarten experience due to schools being shuttered, then when entering Grade 1 they were in and out of school depending on COVID severity. The same uncertainty of being in school or moving to at home learning continued into Grade 2,” said Mombourquette.

He said as these children started their formal education experience, they didn’t have the same experience as previous generations of students and as a result issues around socialization, understanding how to play together, and understanding that they also have responsibility for those around them are now appearing in students in Grades 4 and 5.