Many Saskatoon teachers are getting their classrooms ready, especially in the city’s four new joint-use elementary schools, which are just weeks away from opening.
This comes after the province first made the announcement about the schools back in October 2013.
READ MORE: New Saskatoon joint-use schools on schedule to open next fall
Joint-use schools have both a public and a Catholic school located in the same building.
“It’s unique, that’s for sure. We’ve never opened six new schools, ever, at the same time,” Darryl Bazylak, the superintendent of education with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, said.
In total, there are 18 elementary schools on nine joint-use sites between Saskatoon, Regina, Warman and Martensville.
- Evergreen: Sylvia Fedoruk School & St. Nicholas Catholic School
- Hampton Village: Ernest Lindner School & St. Lorenzo Ruiz Catholic School
- Rosewood: Colette Bourgonje School & St. Thérèse of Lisieux Catholic School
- Stonebridge: Chief Whitecap School & St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic School
- Warman: Traditions Elementary School (Prairie Spirit School Division) & Holy Trinity Catholic School
- Martensville: Lake Vista Public School (Prairie Spirit School Division) & Holy Mary Catholic School
Saskatoon Public Schools said most of the teachers at the new schools will be existing staff.
“Why we initially went through our initial staff is they’re with us and they’ve committed themselves to Saskatoon public, so we thought we’d give them the first opportunity to see if they’d like to be in a new school,” Withman Jaigobin, the superintendent of education with Saskatoon Public Schools, said.
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A core staff for the four public schools was selected in February. According to the public school division, new additions could still be added in the fall.
“We will see what happens. Our full staffing is not complete until we actually see the exact enrolments per school,” Jaigobin said.
All the principals for the new Saskatoon schools are from existing schools.
“We have just over 1,200 teachers, so we’re a big division. We have a lot of moves that occur throughout every spring, and so this created more moves,” Bazylak said.
According to both school divisions, the moves created vacancies in existing schools.
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The Catholic school division said the new schools will feature a mix of both new and experienced staff.
“Transition is hard enough as it is, so it’s nice to see some familiar faces for both the students, but also the teachers to know some of the students who are there,” Bazylak said.
Later this month, the elementary schools will be hosting open house events. The first day of school is Sept. 5.
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