Doors set to open on long-awaited high school in northwest Calgary

Some students in northwest Calgary will be able to enjoy a new school for the coming year now that North Trail High School is open.

It's the finish line for many parents in northwest Calgary who've lobbied for years to build a new high school in the northwest.

At the end of this month, North Trail High School will open its doors for the first time.

"Parents have been advocating for over a decade to have a school here," Mike Bester, North Trail's principal, told CTV News on Friday.

"They are so excited and thrilled," he said, adding that he's already had an opportunity to meet with many of them.

Students in Country Hills, Country Hills Village, Coventry Hills, Harvest Hills, Hidden Valley and Panorama Hills will be designated to the new building.

It features a theatre, automotive shops, culinary arts classrooms and several large gathering spaces for students.

Parents in the northwest communities held rallies for years to draw attention to the critical need for a secondary school in the area, saying their students were forced to commute huge distances to attend class.

Funding for the Coventry Hills high school was laid out in the 2018 budget under then-premier Rachel Notley, but it disappeared once the United Conservative Party took power the following year.

Supporters said the growing population of the area was the main issue and the Calgary Board of Education has long said there is an ongoing need for more schools in the city.

For the first year, North Trail will serve 1,250 students but once it's fully developed to handle Grade 12 students next year, it would support 1,900.

Construction on the $70 million project began in 2021.

The school will open to students on Aug. 31.

(With files from Austin Lee)