New Calgary high school gets a name

A new Calgary high school was named Friday

A high school now under construction in the Calgary community of Coventry Hills has a name: North Trail High School.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) made the announcement in a release Friday.

The name was selected by the CBE after soliciting input from the community, an Indigenous Elder and a school name recommendation committee.

The committee was made up of CBE trustees, parent or community representatives and CBE administrators.

The Elder shared some stories of the north trail, and the land where the new school is being built. The north trail includes trails used by the Siksika and honours ancestors and warriors, who would travel the trail to prepare for new birth each spring.

The trail may also have been used by the Cree to travel to Blackfoot territory to negotiate treaties and trade.

Research suggested that the land may have at one time been a place for harvesting tobacco, Saskatoon berries and chokecherries. The Northern Lights are also visible from the trail.

The school is scheduled to open in September, 2023. Students who live in Country Hills, Country Hills Village, Coventry Hills, Harvest Hills, Hidden Valley and Panorama Hills will be designated to the school.

North Trails will offer grades 10 and 11 when it opens in 2023, with grade 12 being added in 2024.