Bright colours, open spaces and daylight will greet Ponoka Composite High School students when they return to classes next week.
Construction crews finished the renovations on the east side of the school where they opened up the classrooms, created learning pods and removed the hallways giving the 1960s-built high school a 21st century facelift.
“It’s a total new school,” said principal Ian Rawlinson. “We were a pretty run down building with not a lot of windows and not a lot of daylight. Now we are daylight everywhere. It’s bright. It’s clean. It’s new. They won’t recognize it. It’s pretty amazing what they can do inside a building when they put their minds to it.”
There was a slight electrical snag in the construction timeline which forced the district to delay the start of school until Sept. 6. Rawlinson said staff wanted to ensure the dust was settled before the 650 students returned.
The modernization project started in 2010 with a $11 million commitment from the provincial government which covered the first two of three phases. The first phase included a complete overhaul of the east side of the school.
The hallways were eliminated to maximize open instructional areas including a Humanities Lab, a Teacher Pod, a Learning Centre and a Student Resource Centre. There’s still a few traditional classrooms and a larger adjoining classroom.
“The idea behind the whole school is collaborative spaces and a different way to educate kids,” said Rawlinson. “No longer does the student go to the classroom and be taught but the student might begin their class in a classroom but are very quickly turned out to areas where there is project-based learning happening. It is infused with technology throughout the entire space.”
With the first phase of the three phased project completed, crews will shift to the west side of the building in the second phase where a new science/math park will be built based on the same open concept. A new cosmetology lab, a new special education classroom, new student gathering spaces are also part of the plan. This second phase is expected to be completed by June 2012.
In May, Alberta Education and Alberta Infrastructure unveiled a $550 million plan to modernize 13 schools and build 22 new schools in the province. Wolf Creek Public Schools received $12.1 million for modernization projects. Part of the funding will be used to complete the Ponoka Composite High School project and the remainder will go to renovate other schools in the division. The final phase of the Ponoka project will upgrade the gymnasium, add a fine arts theatre and introduce a new Career and Technology Studies area to the school. This final phase will take at least a year.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com