The school year is just about done, as summer vacations are soon to start for students in the southeast. The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) has a course completion week next week, with the final day scheduled for June 26th.
James Jones, the principal at ECS, talks about what was a packed 2024-25 school year.
"I would say the year progressed really well. It's pretty incredible when you look back at all of the events that ECS hosted or was involved with, and I would say that it was a very successful academic year."
Provincially, the school did well, with Jones pointing to the championship titles secured by their table tennis team, cheer team, and more. There were also plenty of local events, with a musical being produced at the school and community events like the recent John Dick Show and Shine car show.
That was all helped out by some new perspectives being brought in by new faces in the faculty.
"We had 13 new staff members join our staff for this year, and with changes comes lots of new ideas and perspectives, and it was great to see things like the return of the Improv Games and some new events that popped up over the course of the year."
While educators did have a bit of worry during the bargaining between teachers and the province throughout much of the year, Jones feels like the school year wasn't impacted.
"This year, I felt like it was very much a return to normal. Maybe the one notable change this year was the implementation of the new cell phone or personal electronic devices guidelines set out by the province and the school division, and as such I've been very impressed with how our students and staff have adapted to those changes here at the [ECS], and overall students were really successful with following those guidelines, so no big concerns on that end."
Students and staff are also looking back fondly on the year, as Jones says there were plenty of achievements across the school.
"Looking back at our awards nights and all of the different accomplishments, I would say that the staff and students are very pleased with the academic year that we had here at ECS. Lots to be thankful for. We have a great school community council that supports lots of the undertakings here at the [ECS]."
The 2025-26 school year is now in the ECS's sights, and Jones says they're already doing work to welcome in the new class of students.
"At the end of May, we welcome all of our grade 8s from our different feeder schools to do tours, and there's always that nervous excitement and energy. We hosted an open gym night where we welcomed over 30 grade 8 students just to come and kind of start building some of those connections with their peers, and we're very excited for the upcoming academic year."
Jones invites students to come down to the Back to School and Load Your Locker night on August 28th, which will help new and returning students get back into the swing of things.