On March 11th, 7 months after the first students walked its halls, a grand opening celebration was held at East Lake School. This Kindergarten to Grade 8 school located in the community of Kinniburgh, is the newest school to opens its doors in Chestermere and with the population exploding in Alberta’s newest city, it was welcomed with open arms.
The celebration came with no shortage on community dignitaries. Manmeet Bhullar, Minister of Alberta Infrastructure, MLA Bruce McAllister, Colleen Munro – Vice Chair of Rocky View School Division, Bev LaPeare – Ward 2 Trustee of Rocky View School Division, Don Hoium – Superintendent of Schools, Mayor Patricia Matthews and other members of Chestermere City Council and Trustees with Rocky View schools all came out to celebrate another great Alberta school.
Principal Ragan Johnson hosted the ceremony and beamed with pride as she spoke of the hard work of a community that made this school what it is. “As Principal of East Lake School, it has been my privilege to work with the staff, students, parents and community who make this school such a great place to be. Together we are embarking on a journey to create a school community that reflects the best practices of educational innovation and is sensitive to the needs of all of our students. Part of this journey has involved us working collaboratively to create a mission and vision that we believe truly reflects what we would like East Lake School to stand for. As a school community, we believe that our students are the center of everything we do. That it is important to embrace and accept everyone that walks through our doors for who they are. We believe that all students need to feel safe at school. That we foster positive relationships amongst all members of our community. The students need to be engaged in meaningful inquiry and we believe that learning should not only be fun but should also be challenging and innovating. With this state of the art facility, we are committed to design the best school for the future. Our school building is the result of many heads, hearts and hands from the architect, to the builder, to staff, to parents, to students and our community partners. We have each put our mark on the vision that will become the legacy of East Lake School”.
Dignitaries were then brought up to take their turn speaking as to the opening of this brilliant new facility.
Minister Bhullar spoke to the crowd saying, “This community in another 10 years is going to grow so much. Building infrastructure like this, new schools, is absolutely important. This school was a part of our first phase of schools. Right now we have 232 school projects going on around this Province. This is the largest school build of any Canadian jurisdiction in Canadian history. This is the largest school construction project ever. It’s going to cost us billions of dollars but, as you parents know, it’s absolutely vital that we do this. Our finances in Alberta maybe facing some challenges right now with $50 oil prices, but we still continue to attract between 70,000 and 100,000 people every year. That’s 28 new schools every year. This school is a perfect example of that. It’s bright, it’s an environment that allow for students to be enthusiastic and to really capitalize on their school environment and to really enjoy it”.
Bruce McAllister remarked, “It is so good to be here. I have to be completely honest, I have a soft spot for East Lake School as my daughter attends here and she is thrilled to be a part of this school. I know the great work that all of you do, I see it on the face of my daughter when she comes home from school. She comes here happy, she leaves here happy. When we opened this school we had some pressure points. Chestermere is one of the fastest growing communities in this country. So, we had more kids coming through those doors than we thought and we had to react to that. And we did. We had some difficult discussions and there were some decisions that were made. We worked through them together as a community. We’re going to see those positive changes coming through with the modulars that are needed at this school arrive. I’m proud of you. I’m proud to be a member of your community”.
Mayor Matthews spoke to the audience saying, “Thank you for allowing me the honor to speak to you on behalf of the newest City of Alberta – here at East Lake School. You have all done a fantastic job of creating this wonderful amenity in our community. We thank the Minister, we thank our MLA, we thank the Province and we thank, most importantly, we thank the parents and the kids that helped put this school together. Who have put your heart and soul into making this a wonderful school for our community and for our surrounding communities. For allowing Council to be able to recognize this – we waited a long time for this school and we were really anxious for it to open. You guys have done a great job at East Lake School”.
Two plaques were presented to the new school, the Alberta Education Plaque and also the RVS New School Plaque. Special musical numbers were also performed by the grade 5 recorder group and also the grade 6 – 8 band.
The finale was the ribbon cutting by Principal Ragan Johnson and Leslie Waite that officially marks the grand opening of East Lake School and what party wouldn’t be complete without cake and cupcakes! Congratulations and welcome East Lake School!
