DIDSBURY - Didsbury’s Westglen School will be installing four new portable classrooms – also known as relocatables – to address an overcapacity issue at the grade 5-8 middle school, says Shawn Russell, Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) associate superintendent of corporate services.
“We are excited to be able to increase the capacity in the school,” Russell told the Albertan. “Westglen was at 102 per cent capacity, so we decided to address that by applying for relocatable classrooms.”
Each of the portables has a 25-student capacity, giving the school an additional 100 spaces.
Located at 2405 - 23rd Avenue, the school currently has an enrolment of 296 students. The new classrooms will bring the school’s enrolment to about 80 per cent capacity.
The potables will be arriving in the next couple weeks, with the plan being to have them in use at the start of the second semester, early in February, he said.
The portables are being fully funded by Alberta Infrastructure, he said, noting the division has hired a company to set the buildings in place and equip them for use.
The portables themselves will be connected to the main school building, so students will not need to step outside to access them.
“It will be seamless. You don’t leave the school at all. It is just an extension of the hallway into the new classrooms,” he said.
The division has purchased some new desks for use in the portables, he said.
Existing teaching staff at the school will use the new classrooms, he said.
“The school will determine what grades will use the relocatables,” he said. “They will be used and allocated like any other classrooms in the school.”
The portables will remain in place as long as required, he said.
“They are built there until we no longer need them. We anticipate they will be there for quite some time,” he said.
Carolyn Massel is the principal and Kylie Miller is the vice-principal at Westglen.
