The Chinook's Edge School Division is saying goodbye to River Glen School.
And while the school will leave behind cherished memories as an integral part of rural education, new ones will be made when it joins the Red Deer Public school division this fall.
Students and staff, both past and present, gathered for a special Homecoming last Saturday to reminisce about River Glen School's long history as an important educational institution located in the City of Red Deer that served Chinook's Edge's rural kindergarten to Grade 12 students for almost two decades.
“The Homecoming is our people's best attempt to honour all the great things that have happened at River Glen over the years,” said Kurt Sacher, superintendent of schools for Chinook's Edge.
“They are so proud of their history and I think it is tremendous they are going to honour people and the great stories that come from that school over the years.”
David Mathias, a longtime River Glen science teacher who worked at the school for the past 34 years, organized the Homecoming event.
For the past several months, Mathias joined many others in the sorting and packing to prepare the facility to become part of Red Deer Public Schools at the end of June.
“The theme throughout this entire year has been Celebrations – to commemorate all the great things taking place inside River Glen and to mark the milestones along the way,” said Mathias. “Every month has celebrated a particular theme, so when the theme was athletics the phys-ed staff held an alumni basketball game, for instance. As we enter the final month as a Chinook's Edge school, our Homecoming theme provides an opportunity for people to reflect with gratitude on all the good things that have happened in this great school.”
River Glen School, which was built in 1959, became a Chinook's Edge institution in 1995 when the school districts in Red Deer County and Mountain View County amalgamated.
For the next 19 years it served rural students outside the City of Red Deer's perimeter, including those in the Town of Penhold and the Hamlet of Springbrook.
“If you were in our area you would have been bused in to River Glen. The whole idea historically was to bus county kids in to a central location,” said Sacher, whose office said last week the school's final year of rural education served 193 students.
However, River Glen's rural mandate changed following a regional study, facilitated by Alberta Education and involving several school boards, including Chinook's Edge, which examined educational needs for the region. While a solution was found to meet the needs of all boards, including a new school for Chinook's Edge, it was decided the future of River Glen was to be with the Red Deer Public school system beginning in the fall of 2014. Rural students who once looked to River Glen for their education will now go to the new Penhold Crossing Secondary School.
“River Glen is essentially a building that lies inside, from a public school point of view, in Red Deer public's jurisdiction. The long-term plan was for Chinook's Edge to not have a school inside the city boundaries,” said Sacher.
“We are very excited about the new school in Penhold and how it can serve the needs of the school division. I think some of the best pieces of River Glen will certainly be preserved as we move forward.”
Meanwhile, last Saturday's Homecoming featured an informal burger bash, school tours, a Red Deer Royals parade, and brief formal speeches to mark the occasion. Michael Dawe, the City of Red Deer's renowned historian, put together a brief history of the school for the event's brochure, as well as an assortment of photos from the museum archives to create a farewell slideshow.
“We are so proud of everything that has been achieved at River Glen and the family feel of the school is a big reason why I have stayed for so long. I feel respect from students every day and I have always had a great deal of respect for them,” said Mathias, who will be retiring at the end of June.
“I'm confident that feeling of belonging, the culture of positivity and the sense of pure excitement for teaching and learning will be passed on to the new Penhold Crossing Secondary School when it opens in August,” he added. “The great spirit and camaraderie that is always present in Chinook's Edge will make it a success.”
