Two new options regarding the discussion surrounding 'Balancing Airdrie Student Spaces' were presented at today's Rocky View Schools Board of Trustee meeting and one of the new options was accepted and will guide the changes coming to Airdrie schools.

After hearing public feedback on the original three options, Greg Luterbach, Superintendent of Schools presented this new option, the one that was ultimately accepted by the trustees and will come into effect at the start of the Fall 2025 school year. 

AirdrieScreenshot provided by RVS.

"While this will be positive for some, we understand it will not be welcome news for others in our community. We reassure you our schools have wonderful, dedicated staff who will support students through these transitions," stated RVS. "Further details will be provided before the end of this school year."

These were the original ideas first tabled for the trustees to consider:

  • Converting C.W. Perry School into a high school. This will redistribute Grade 9 -12 students across Airdrie. C.W. Perry was chosen because of its location in the city and ability to accommodate high school-level programming in its spaces.
  • Grade 8 students stay in their current school for Grade 9, creating a more traditional Grade 10 - 12 high school model. This minimizes the changes for families as students stay in their schools for one more year; however, it impacts the programming options our Grade 9 students currently have and increases space pressures in some schools by adding a grade. It may also require adding or removing a grade level at some other schools.
  • Re-organize grade structures across Airdrie schools to remove urgent pressures where possible (Kindergarten – Grade 6, Grade 7 – 9 and Grade 10 – 12). This addresses both high school utilization and standardizes grade configuration across the community.

After multiple public engagement sessions, RVS provided stats showing how Airdronians felt about the three original options. 37 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with converting C.W. Perry School to a high school. 67 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with grade eight students staying in middle school for grade nine and 63 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with re-organizing grade structure for all schools. 

After today's presentation, the Trustees voted in the majority to approve one of the two newer options and Rocky View Schools will now institute these approved changes in the start of the Fall 2025-2026 school year. 

“Through the engagement, we heard our communities value keeping neighbourhoods and households together, minimizing disruption and balancing enrolments to achieve the greatest overall improvement of utilizations,” said Luterbach. “We believe the Board's decision honours this feedback and provides the best solution to improve learning environments for all Airdrie students.”

Back in March, the province announced more schools for Airdrie, but RVS stated that they still needed to balance Airdrie student spaces in the meantime as Airdrie's student population grows by 300-500 students each year.

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