Holy Spirit School District heads back to school

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -

If you ask an adult if it’s still summer, they’ll tell you it is. But for kids in the Holy Spirit School District, they’ll tell you it ended Wednesday.

The district opened its doors for the 2022-23 school year, and educators were happy to welcome their students back.

“We just want to make sure that all the students know that this is home to them, what to expect, how to go about their business. So it's a lot of learning moments today” said Devon Dempsey, principal at St. Francis Junior High.

The district is the first in Lethbridge to start the school year.

Holy Spirit School District opened its doors for the 2022-23 school year on Wednesday.

It’s responsible for more than 5,000 students in six municipalities, including Lethbridge.

And for some, it was an especially big day, as they started at new schools — Dempsey said she saw more than a few new faces Wednesday.

“We had our Grade 7s here this morning and they were hugely excited with a lot of nervous energy, but they did so well," Dempsey said.

"We have students coming to us from across the whole city and it's a brand new experience with a couple hundred other Grade 7 colleagues, so they did great.”

Holy Spirit School District opened its doors for the 2022-23 school year on Wednesday.

Behind the scenes, the school district worked hard to prepare for the new school year.

Superintendent Ken Sampson said the COVID-19 pandemic is still in the backs of everyone's minds.

The district has had to deal with numerous restrictions over the past two years, but with most restrictions and guidelines being rolled back, this year promises somewhat of a return to normal.

“Certainly, if families want to send their children to school or if staff want to come to school continuing to wear a mask, by all means that can continue and we will support them that way," Sampson said.

"The schools will continue to have hand sanitizers and so on and we'll promote proper etiquette.”

Sampson said he’s heard nothing but positives so far, and he's excited for this new school year.

“The basic underlying theme is that it's awesome, it's great to have people back," Sampson said.

"Families are streaming into the school hand over fist and it's just been a real welcome change considering what we've been through in the last couple of years.”