Latest news with #CalgaryCatholicSchoolDistrict
Calgary Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Construction to be fast-tracked for west Calgary Catholic high school project
A long-awaited Catholic high school in west Calgary is one step closer to being built. Article content Article content Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced the third funding stream for the province's School Construction Accelerator Program (SCAP) in Aspen Woods on Wednesday, including two projects that will benefit the Calgary Catholic School District. Article content The projects receiving funding through the latest round of SCAP include construction of a new Catholic high school in west Calgary, and design-related work for the modernization and expansion of Bishop McNally High School in Falconridge. Article content Article content 'There has been a lot of commentary from parents in west Calgary about the need for a new high school,' Nicolaides told Postmedia ahead of his announcement. 'This project has now moved through the design phase and is ready to begin construction, so we'll be able to provide construction funding to the school division so the project can start to move ahead right away.' Article content Article content Parent advocates have long called on the provincial government to fund a Catholic high school in west Calgary. Currently, Catholic high school students in the southwest attend St. Mary's High School in the Beltline, which can involve nearly an hour's commute each way. Article content 'It's a long commute time, and I do know for a lot of families in the neighbourhood, they'd obviously prefer to have their kids attend school closer to home,' Nicolaides said. 'A lot of them switch and enrol into the public system, (with) Ernest Manning as their designated high school, which cascades and creates other capacity issues.' Article content Article content The new grades 10-12 school will be built at 1579 93rd Street S.W., on the western edge of the city limits, and is expected to open in 2028, states the CCSD's website, which doesn't specify when construction will begin. Article content Article content On the opposite corner of the city, the Bishop McNally modernization project will expand the campus to handle a capacity of 1,880 students, according to the province's major projects portal. Article content 'It is a top project for the school division and we're now able to move it to the design phase, which is a really important stage,' Nicolaides said. 'The school division can really start mapping out what that addition is going to look like and how the space is going to be modernized.' Article content Shannon Cook, chair of the CCSD's board of trustees, said the division is grateful to see two of its highest-priority high-school projects receive funding through SCAP. Article content 'With our student population growing rapidly and our high schools already over capacity, these new builds and modernizations/additions are critical to ensuring our students have access to quality, Catholic education close to home,' she said in a statement. Article content Article content SCAP is an $8.6-billion program that aims to address Alberta's growing student enrolment pressures in the K-to-12 education system, brought on by the province's recent surge in population. Article content As evidence of a worsening space crunch, more than one-third of public schools in Calgary are now operating at or above a 100 per cent utilization rate. Article content 'This growth in population has been quite quick and quite sudden over the past couple years, and it's put significant pressure on our schools,' Nicolaides said. 'That's why we're stepping up to the plate and announcing our plan to invest $8.6 billion to build and renovate more than 100 schools to help address the space needs of our school divisions. There's no question there's a lot of demand and pressure out there.' Article content Article content For SCAP's next funding stream, 11 previously announced school projects will receive either design or construction funding. Article content In addition to the two Calgary projects, Nicolaides said the province will allocate money for school projects in Coalhurst, Donnelly, Falher, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie County, Lac La Biche, Red Deer, Strathmore and Wetaskiwin. The Strathmore project includes design funding for a replacement of Westmount School. Article content When complete, the projects will create more than 8,000 new and updated student spaces. Article content 'Most of the projects we're moving forward are outside of Calgary and Edmonton this round,' Nicolaides said. 'That helps other communities around the province recognize and understand that we're trying to achieve both goals; building space in our fast-growing communities while also ensuring we have the highest quality infrastructure as possible in some of our smaller communities.' Article content
CTV News
14-05-2025
- CTV News
‘Be aware': Calgary police say popular ‘Senior Assassin' game comes with risks
Calgary police worry it's only 'a matter of time' before a major incident will occur as students throughout the city participate in a popular game known as 'Senior Assassin.' The live-action game is typically played by senior high school students and involves players eliminating 'targets' during a set time period using water guns, spray bottles or other methods. In Ontario, police issued warnings after students with replica firearms or spray-painted water guns prompted lockdowns and community alerts. In Guelph, Ont., for example, a school was put into lockdown earlier this month and a teen was arrested at gunpoint after police were called about a group spotted with a gun. The weapon turned out to be a realistic-looking water gun. 'We haven't, fortunately, had any major incidents in Calgary yet,' said Insp. Colleen Bowers with the Calgary Police Service's Youth Services section. 'I fear that it could be a matter of time.' 'There are youth that are playing this game, and the concern is they're carrying replica handguns or water pistols that look like a real handgun, and when police or citizens see that, they treat it as a real handgun.' Both the Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District acknowledge students in this city are playing the game and the school boards are working with police and school principals to address concerns. Weapons, including replica guns and water guns, are not permitted on school property, each school board confirmed. The game is powered by an app that assigns the 'targets' and uses location data of the participants, something parents should also speak to their teenagers about, police say. 'As parents, be aware of the social media. Be aware of what they're doing on their phones,' said Bowers. 'Make sure they know not to take any of this stuff into the schools and to be really, really careful when you're playing this game, because sharing your location to anyone – you don't know who's getting that, and they could have nefarious reasons for having your location. 'It's just not safe to do.'
