Thousands of Calgary Catholic School District students head back to class
As summer winds down, tens of thousands of students in Calgary and its surrounding communities are heading back to school.
Tuesday marks the beginning of a staggered return to class for Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) students.
Glenn Johnston, principal of Holy Name School, says it’s the best day of the year.
"It's the excitement in the air. New beginnings, new grade for all the students. In some cases, a new school for them, so it's just an exciting time."
Marjorie Junio-Read’s daughter Celeste is heading to Grade 1.
"It's a big day," said Junio-Read.
"We're really excited for her to start learning again, for her to get into the routine, see all her friends and just really start to grow."
There are now roughly 60,000 students spread out across 118 CCSD schools.
With Calgary's population growing rapidly, so too is student enrolment.
The CCSD saw an increase of 2,154 in enrolment for the 2022-23 school compared to the prior school year, well above the district's prediction of 1,400 new students.
CCSD superintendent Bryan Szumlas says the Catholic school board is increasing its teaching staff to deal with the influx.
"Our pupil services team have worked really hard over the summer months to hire teachers," Szumlas said.
"We had to replace about 150 teachers that retired in the spring, and then, as we go forward here into the fall, we're looking at hiring approximately … just under 100 teachers as we go forward."
The increased enrolment brought the average school utilization rate up to 84.26 per cent, which is still just below the provincial benchmark of 85 per cent.
However, some CCSD schools were still at or above capacity.
"We know this year, we're not opening any new schools other than our storefront outreach, high school to help some of our most vulnerable youth," Szumlas said.
"Right now, we're going to make it work with the space that we have. Consequently, our classes may be a bit larger, but really, students don't come to us in nice little classrooms of 25."
Much like the Calgary Board of Education, the Catholic district will have to work on balancing out enrolment and increasing capacity in more popular communities.
Szumlas says some over-capacity CCSD schools are moving students to schools with lower enrolment.
"We do have some schools right now within Calgary Catholic, where we are controlling their enrolment and so they are redirected to other schools. And we especially see this in new booming communities. So when we look around the city of Calgary which is growing extensively, some of those new communities that are coming online, the Catholic students are bused to certain schools that do have room"
Tuesday also marks back-to-school for Rocky View Schools (RVS), which has recently seen some of the most significant jumps in student enrolment.
Heading into the previous school year, RVS saw its number of students jump to 27,772. That represented a 4.3 per cent jump, far exceeding the school board's prediction.
That board includes schools in Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere and other communities to the north, west and east of Calgary.
The latest CCSD and RVS enrolment data should be available in the coming weeks.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ontario to ban use of cellphones in school classrooms starting in September
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
'Do not consume': Gift Chocolate recalled due to undeclared milk, soy
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Murder charge laid after man falls to death from Toronto apartment balcony
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Dozens in Italy give a fascist salute on the anniversary of Mussolini's execution
Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.
Zendaya tennis movie ‘Challengers’ scores at weekend box office
Zendaya and castmates Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor have been on a globetrotting press tour to get the word out about Italian director Luca Guadagnino's original film, which opened in 3,477 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Quebec to invest $603 million to protect the French language
Quebec will invest $603 million over five years to counter the decline of French in the province, French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge announced Sunday.
Nicole Kidman, who 'makes movies better,' gets AFI Life Achievement Award
Morgan Freeman spoke the words, but pretty much everyone who took the stage at the presentation of the AFI Life Achievement Award agreed: "Nicole Kidman. She makes movies better."