Pearl Lorentzen
For South Peace News
Northland School Division is attempting to keep students at its schools in two areas where enrolment has dropped.
Elizabeth School near Cold Lake in eastern Alberta, and Mistassiniy School at Wabasca, have seen decreased enrolment, the board of trustees heard at its Oct. 19 meeting.
Wabasca shares borders with Bigstone Cree Nation.
Supt. Cal Johnson told trustees that Northland administration has reached out to families who left as to the reasons why.
Mistassiniy is a Grade 9-12 school; however, this year Bigstone added a high school. Johnson was told parents want to try the new band school.
Mistassiniy also has a new building this year, which was built with the idea of having over 300 students attend. On Oct. 9, Mistassini had 214 students, on Sept. 19 it was 278, a drop of 63 students or 22.7 per cent. Mistassiniy is actively promoting its sports and Indigenous cultural activities on social media.
Johnson said some students might switch back to Northland. At Elizabeth, he noted, students are transferring to larger schools outside of the settlement to participate in sports and technology courses.
“We’re looking at floor hockey tournaments,” said Johnson.
“We think that will have an impact.”