Staff, students celebrate grand opening of Coaldale Prairie Winds Secondary

Prairie Winds Secondary School in Coaldale, Alta. held its grand opening on Friday, Oct. 10, 2024.

Students in Coaldale, Alta., have a new space to learn.

Prairie Winds Secondary School officially opened on Friday.

About 600 students between Grade 7 and 12 are now being taught at the new school.

It's taken about seven years of planning and just over $40 million for the new facility to open.

Prairie Winds replaces Kate Andrews High School, which opened in 1961.

"It took a long time to get here and a lot of planning, a lot of work," said Dave Driscoll, superintendent of schools for the Palliser School Division.

"It is a truly tremendous day. Being able to open up a school like this, attached to the recreation center, and the support of the community we have in Coaldale is amazing.

"We're looking forward to many great years ahead."

The state-of-the-art facility boasts many amenities for teachers and students.

It features a new theatre, modular learning spaces, modern technology and even an esports centre.

"We talk about how we like education to change and about new things that teachers can be doing, and now we have a facility that really supports all of those ideas," said Curtis Uyesugi, principal of Prairie Winds.

"Already, our teachers are doing things that. Five years ago they wouldn't have necessarily been able to do in their classrooms."

Nathan Neudorf, MLA for Lethbridge-East, says building schools like Prairie Winds in rural communities is a priority for the UCP.

"It's essential to grow a province in a in a very strategic and balanced way," he said.  

"There are people definitely moving to our large centers (like) Calgary, Edmonton… but there are lots of people moving into all of our smaller communities there. They thrive around community buildings like this."

Prairie Winds is designed to accommodate 855 students, but with Coaldale growing rapidly, Driscoll acknowledged another school may be needed sooner rather than later.

Kate Andrews school will stay open as an educational facility with the same name.

Students from John Davidson and the Palliser Beyond Border Program will be moving there.