Students are back in school, and another year is underway for the Horizon School Division. The 2024-25 school year comes complete with new in-school and in-office leaders and many capital projects and new initiatives.
In terms of personnel, retirements and internal shifts have meant numerous school principals and principals taking up duties for the first time.
“We’ve had a lot of experience walk out our doors which is always a bit daunting to see those people leave,” says Director of Education Kevin Garinger. “We also have new people with new ideas coming in, so we’ve had a great number of changes in administration, some where they’ve moved from one location to another.”
In a couple of cases, previous in-school administrators have taken on duties in the central office as coordinators. Garinger says that’s been another way to expand and continue to support the work in schools in the best possible way.
Seeing opportunities for new administrators to enter the fold has been a positive throughout the process, Garinger notes. You can meet some of these new administrators in our series on Discover Humboldt.
Mental health initiatives to support both students and staff remain high on the list of division priorities. One of the cornerstones is the partnership with the Winnipeg Jets to bring Project 11 to Horizon. Project 11, created in honour of former Winnipeg Jets player Rick Rypien, provides a program geared toward supporting mental health.
“It’s (Horizon) the first school division in Saskatchewan to adopt the program,” says Garinger. “It aligns with our curriculum goals and outcomes that relate to mental well-being in the health curricula right from Kindergarten through Grade 12.”
Project 11 works in tandem with “Stop It,” another online support for students that covers the gamut of supports from self-harm to food insecurity. The division has also provided all staff members with free access to the Calm app, widely known to support individuals around stress and anxiety issues. Other key players in the mental wellness mix are Bryan Trottier, NHL hall of famer, and writer Sigmund Brouwer who is no stranger to Horizon Schools.
On the capital projects front, Horizon SD has four major builds on the go. Two of them are in response to student population growth that has happened in Humboldt and to meet the anticipated influx of families attached to the BHP mine project.
“In particular, we have two portable classrooms, one at Humboldt Public School and one at HCI. They relate directly to the expansion we are seeing. Our numbers are as high as they’ve ever been at HPS, and it’s the same at HCI. They (HCI) are at 430 students this year which is the highest it’s ever been in that building.”
The Lanigan School project, designed to integrate the elementary and high schools, is on trajectory for its opening, anticipated for May 2025.
“We had the Premier and Deputy Premier out to tour that facility. It was great for them to see the benefits for that community, one that our deputy premier grew up near.”
The expansion of Kelvington High School to accommodate the elementary school into a K-12 facility continues.
“We just completed the parking lot, the bus loop, and all the concrete. It’s impressive how quickly that’s coming along. We anticipated students starting school n 2025-26 in that new facility.”
Bruno School students will enjoy the newly refurbished floor.
With a new admin team in Wakaw School, there is also an exciting new program evolving there.
“That admin team is also leading a Michif language program for Métis early learner, so we’re very excited on how that is progressing in Kindergarten. We’re looking forward to seeing how that’s going to grow. We are going to make sure it flourishes before we look to expansion in other places.”
Garinger acknowledges that there are Métis students throughout the division, but that schools like Archerwill might be early targets for expansion once this pilot is off the ground.
With the start of another exciting school year, Garinger says that the work of the division in established initiatives remains ongoing. Focus on individualized learning, work around instructional leadership and assessment, and programming around Indigenous Ways of Knowing continues at the forefront. Agricultural education with outdoor classrooms and support from Ag in the Classroom is also starting to take off, Garinger notes.
It’s another year of growth for the division, all in aid of supporting the learning of students throughout the region.