The Living Waters Catholic school division is hoping to break ground on a new Slave Lake school sometime this year. That’s if everything goes as planned, which it may not. But the way things are moving along with the site, the job should go to tender this year.
Once the school division has title to the property, which could happen in the next few weeks, things can move ahead quickly, says Living Waters superintendent Carol Lemay. There’s some site work to be done, some plans to be finalized and a budget to be approved by the province.
Once that’s all looked after, “We could hopefully put it out to tender in late summer or early fall and construction as soon after that as we could.” Living Waters has $13 million to spend on the new building. If the bids come in much higher than that, it could put the kibosh on the project, at least as conceived.
But assuming that doesn’t happen, there could be a new Grade 7 – 12 school opening its doors in about 18 months, Lemay figures.
“We’re planning it to be a very modern, creative and alternative school,” says Lemay. “The programming will be designed to meet the needs of the community.”
Asked for examples, Lemay said work experience and apprenticeship programs would be emphasized. It’s a fact, she said, that high school completion at St. Mary of the Lake is below the provincial average. How to bring that up requires “more flexibility,” Lemay says.
Asked why it takes a new building to make that happen, Lemay says, “Because it’s new, you can create (it).”
The new, flexible programming will not come about without public involvement, Lemay promises.
“There will be a lot of public consultation with students and parents of students as to what they think is needed,” she says.
The school will sit at the east end of a roughly 18-acre chunk of land set aside by the landowners who have been developing the property south of Hwy. 2. Lemay says it will be jointly owned by Living Waters and the High Prairie School Division. The two school divisions have an agreement to share playing field space as well as busing. The HPSD has not announced any firm plans to build a school on its half of the parcel.
Lemay says as soon as the title is formally acquired, residents will see a sign go up announcing the upcoming construction of the school. There’ll be a contest to name it, she says.
St. Mary’s will continue as a Catholic K – 6 school, much reduced in size. The portables that make up the bulk of the classrooms will all go eventually, says the superintendent.
“It will fit better into the community,” she says.

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