Skip to content

New Hutterite colony school in central Alberta

May City Colony School opened last fall operated by Chinook’s Edge School Division
29229571_web1_220524-chinooks-edge-colony-school-colony_2
May City Colony School teacher Lisa McCaw graduated from Cremona School where she first learned the value that comes from being part of a K-12 school community. (Contributed)

Chinook’s Edge School Division’s newest Hutterite colony school will be wrapping up its first year of classes.

May City Colony opened in August 2021, and May City Colony School started soon after.

The three other colony schools in Chinook’s Edge provide ongoing support, including sharing resources for the library.

May City teacher Lisa McCaw said the new school is only five km from the one-room schoolhouse where her grandma started her own teaching career in the 1940s.

“It’s a perfect way to honour the tradition of the one-room schoolhouse,” said McCaw, who works with 17 students from

kindergarten to Grade 9.

“The class has four groups of students of varying ages. We know each of them, and their skills and abilities, so well that we’re able to provide the best programming approach for each,” she said in a statement about her school.

“May City kids love to read and they are all unbelievably avid readers, so ensuring the library was stocked was a huge priority. They are also very creative and artistic.”

McCaw, who began her teaching career at a Colony School in 2002, said there’s been incredible support from students and families at May City.

“The women come in to clean the school and they make sure we are all very well fed at lunchtime! Everyone has daily and weekly chores, and they all pitch in,” McCaw said.

“This community is so supportive of the school. Literacy, math and good behaviour is important to them.”

Schools at May City, Neudorf, Pine Hill and Rainbow colonies are supervised by Chinook’s Edge administrator Daryl Brown who visits each school every month.



News tips

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter