Dear École Howden Community,  

I am writing to share information about a proposed reconfiguration of École Howden, which is being considered to address ongoing capacity challenges and enhance program flexibility.  

Background 

Enrolment at École Howden surpassed projections in September 2024 by 13 students, reaching 418 students (92% of capacity). This trend is expected to remain steady:  

The current capacity of École Howden is 455 students. However, the school lacks many of the specialized programming spaces that are standard elsewhere. As a result, there is limited flexibility for programming and space use, including: 

• Small Student Services spaces 
• Undersized Kindergarten classrooms 
• Limited breakout spaces 
• Library used for childcare before and after school 
• Grade 7-8 students travelling to Collège Béliveau (CB) for band and guitar, losing instructional time

In 2019, the school division submitted a formal request to the province for a four-classroom addition. When approval was not received, the division requested the addition of two modular classrooms in 2023 and again in 2024. To date, none of these requests have been approved by the province. 

Proposed Reconfiguration 

To address these challenges, the Senior Leadership Team proposes reconfiguring École Howden to a Kindergarten to Grade 6 school, beginning in September 2025. Grade 7 and 8 students residing in the École Howden catchment would be redirected to Collège Béliveau, taking advantage of space created when Grade 7 and 8 students from Sage Creek begin attending the new school in their community in September 2025. This would eliminate the need for Grade 7 and 8 students to travel between schools during instructional time and create greater program flexibility at École Howden. 

As part of the reconfiguration: 

• Four classrooms at École Howden would be repurposed to allow for greater programming flexibility. For example, larger Kindergarten classrooms to support play-based learning, expanded Student Services spaces, dedicated space for other specialized programming. 
• Capacity would decrease from 455 to 355 students.

Next Steps 

Approval from the Board is required before any changes are implemented. Notice of motion will occur at the Dec. 3 Board meeting, with a decision expected Dec. 17. 

We value your input and invite you to a hybrid community meeting to discuss this proposal in more detail: 

Date: Dec. 5, 2024 

Time: 6:30 p.m. 

Location: École Howden or via Zoom 

Please register using the following link.  

In addition to attending the meeting, we encourage you to share your thoughts by completing this survey. Your responses will help guide our next steps. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. 

Sincerely, 

Christian Michalik 

Superintendent & CEO