BONNYVILLE - Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) looks forward to marking the end of a long road for the modernization of Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS).
For well over a year the facility has been under construction, with students attending classes at their makeshift school at the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre.
Now, the end is in sight, and the school board is ready to mark the occasion.
On Wednesday, June 23, the NLPS board of trustees set a date for their BCHS Grand Opening: Friday, Oct. 1.
“I think it’s going to be so much transition into staff and students into that building.... I think it’s really important that they have that time in September to ground their feet into that space,” stated board chair Arlene Hrynyk.
This was why she pitched Oct. 1 as the big day, so everyone can get settled in to their new offices and classrooms.
Secretary Treasurer Paula Elock said this follows suit of Cold Lake Elementary School, who held a grand opening of their own in Oct. 2016 after their new school was officially open for learning.
The plan is to invite Alberta's Minister of Education and Minister of Infrastructure as well as the usual staff, students, and board members, among others.
NLPS will also extend an invitation to BCHS's first principal Ernie Isley.
The school board will schedule a planning session leading up to the event so they can iron out the details.
The background
The Bonnyville high school was approved for modernization in the spring of 2017, when the province allocated $500 million to 26 school projects across Alberta, including BCHS.
Since then, the school has undergone the design phase and is still currently under construction, with things expected to wrap-up in time for students to go back to school in the fall.
When they do return to BCHS, staff and students will find a new NBA-sized gymnasium, a full-sized kitchen, more natural lighting, and an updated common area, among other upgrades.
Last December, NLPS had hoped to have moved students out of the C2 and back into the school on April 1, 2021, but further delays have them bumping the move-in date to the fall.
What's ahead
Even once construction crews have packed up their equipment, NLPS will have some work of their own to complete.
Leah Rout, Director of Facilities for NLPS, said on June 23 while the school is "looking really nice," there is still a lot of work to do.
"We have to put all of the smart TVs on the walls, put all of the speakers in, that wasn't part of the contract. We also have to move all of the existing furniture and supplies that the teachers had at the C2 over to the space, and not necessarily set it up for them but at least get it into their rooms so they can set it up," Rout explained.
The school board is also in charge of removing the walls installed at the C2 for their temporary classrooms and making some repair work "so its again a usable space," added Rout.
