Photo by Emily Rogers
Local and provincial dignitaries joined Iron Ridge Secondary Campus (IRSC) students and staff for the official grand opening on Sept. 12.
The celebration included remarks from Tim De Ruyck Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) Superintendent, Jamie Hoover Town of Blackfalds Mayor, and Devin Dreeshen Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, and MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
“It’s so exciting. This has been such a long process. It’s like waiting to open your presents at Christmas, and finally, we have students in the building and getting to enjoy all these things that we spent years planning,” said Ed Coles IRSC Principal.
The school opened to about 300 Grade 9 to 11 students this fall.
“Next year we will be a 9 to 12 school, and our population will grow exponentially over the next few years,” Coles said.
Up until now, Blackfalds high school students were bussed to Lacombe, which was around 100 per cent capacity.
“The biggest need was having an identity for the community and having a place for the students that was their own, and now we have that,” Coles said.
The new school features dual credit opportunities for students, including welding, carpentry, a cosmetology lab, and food programs.
“This is a school where young people will have the opportunities to create, to inspire, and to achieve,” said Luci Henry WCPS Board Chair. “A child starting Kindergarten today can now learn and grow all the way through to Grade 12 in their hometown, this is what continuity in education looks like.”