One of the staples in Chestermere’s history is its high school that has stood proud for 54 years. Long before Chestermere was considered a town, let alone a city, Chestermere High School has been serving the rural communities of Langdon, Indus, Conrich, Chestermere and everywhere in between.
Friday November 13th held special significance in the history of Chestermere High School (CHS). It was thirty years ago on that date that the opening of the north half of the school took place. The original south side opened in 1961 but the north or ‘new high school’, was dedicated on Nov 13, 1985 with the south then being designated as the middle school, at that time.
Principal of CHS, Jordan Fenton, provided us with the following timeline of the high school.
1961 — Chestermere High Opens to serve the communities of Langdon, Indus and Conrich and their surrounding area.
1977 — Chestermere becomes a summer village
1985 — “New” High School opens North Building – Original South Building becomes the middle school
1992 — Chestermere becomes a town
2001 – Chestermere Lake Middle school opens in Chestermere – both buildings at CHS site begin to function as a grades 9-12 high school continuing to serve the communities of Langdon Indus and Conrich and their surrounding area.
2009 — CHS becomes a grades 10-12 configuration with grade 9 students remaining in the feeder schools
2015 — January Chestermere becomes a city
Just as the population of Chestermere, Langdon and surrounding communities have grown over the years, so has the student body of CHS. Here is a comparison that Principal Fenton provided:
1985 2015
Gr 9 50 Students Gr 10 300 Students
Gr 10 90 Students Gr 11 260 Students
Gr 11 50 Students Gr 12 240 Students
Gr 12 75 Students
Since the opening of the north section of the high school, many students and staff have come and gone. However, for two teachers, they have been there since the beginning. Mr. Rob Wilson and Mr. Brian Utley have been teaching at Chestermere High School for over thirty years and have fond memories of that important day.
Rob Wilson commented, “I have been here 34 years now. I have really enjoyed teaching at Chestermere High School. This is the only school I have taught at. I have seen this school and community grow in size. I loved the new addition (30 yrs. ago) to the school. A real gym!!!”
Brian Utley, who has taught for 37 years and only at Chestermere High School said, “It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since the addition opened. I remember, as it was being built, I would go into the area and check out the progress especially in the gym. There was a lot of excitement in the school and athletics department to open a new big gym. In the 30 years there have been amazing memories in the gym and school. It has been an honour and privilege to coach and teach here since that time”.
Don Deeter was a long time teacher and was on staff at the time of the “new” high school opening in 1985 and he continues to support the schools in the area by subbing.
Many newcomers to Chestermere often ask “why was the high school built out of town? But as the time line above shows, the school was built way before Chestermere was a town…or city. CHS has always served as a place where the youth of Chestermere and area have grown into amazing adults and many have gone on to do amazing things. Many even went on to stay right here in the area and raise their own children – and those children to attend CHS. Amanda Kemble is currently attending CHS, and her father, Walter, was in the CHS graduating class of 1985. Randy Bec was also in the class of 1985 and his son Liam is now attending CHS showing that ours is a family strong community where generations stay to raise their families.
Principal Jordan Fenton, who has been the principal for three years at Chestermere High School says that, “the one constant at Chestermere High School is that it was built out here to serve the people in this large geographic region and here, 54 years on the old south side and 30 years on the north side, it still continues to do that”.
“I think we serve our students as best we can and we serve them very well. We have an extremely high completion rate and we are continually proud of the kids”.
