Erin Ridge students will soon get to grow their own greens just like former lieutenant-governor Lois Hole once St. Albert’s newest school opens this fall.
Construction of Ă©cole Lois E. Hole Elementary School on Everitt Drive North is nearly complete. Residents will get to explore the facility next week at an open house.
When it opens this fall, the K-to-6 public school will host up to 600 English and French immersion students drawn from throughout northern St. Albert.
The Gazette toured the school Tuesday with principal Kevin Jones.
The place is structurally complete apart from a few details such as the missing “S” in “Schools” over the front door and a sign that reads “Gerneral (sic) Administration” in the lobby, he said.
“They’ve ordered a new one,” he said of the latter, with a chuckle.
Jones said the school features numerous nods to its namesake, former city resident, and lieutenant governor Lois Hole.
“Mrs. Hole loved blue,” Jones noted as an example, so it figures prominently into the school’s colour scheme.
Hole also appreciated nature and the outdoors, which will be reflected in the school’s philosophy.
“Our instructional focus will be around nature and forest studies, getting kids outside and engaging with the natural environment,” Jones said.
Students will have plenty of natural areas to choose from, as there are two ponds, four forests and several parks (including Ted Hole Park) within a few blocks of the site.
The school’s environmental focus extends to its design. The building is being built to a LEED Silver standard and features motion-controlled LED lighting, excellent insulation, reserved parking for electric vehicles, and, Jones is proud to note, an indoor bike rack.
Each classroom and most of the stairwells have multiple windows to let in natural light, giving the facility a greenhouse-like feel. There’s also an actual greenhouse and patio on the second floor, which Jones said could be used to study plants. Staffers also plan to install several living walls full of plants in the school.
Hole’s love of books is reflected in the school’s gigantic two-storey library, one wall of which is taken up by windows. Said windows (which include shades for the summer) should let in plenty of light for readers on the ground floor and tinkerers in the makerspace on the second.
The school mostly eschews carpet in favour of polished concrete, as the latter is easier to clean and less likely to trigger allergies, Jones said. There are also few if any square-shaped rooms, as those didn’t fit into the school’s V-shaped geometry.
“It creates some interesting trapezoids,” Jones said.
The school includes several meeting/breakout rooms students can use to work on projects outside of class, as well as a mix of gendered and gender-free washrooms. It also has a large open area on the second floor called The Hive that acts as a common area. Students in this area can look down into the school’s gym at the logo of the school’s sports team, the Hole Hornets.
Jones said the Friends of Lois E. Hole School Enhancement Society has almost raised the $400,000 it needs to build the school’s playground and hopes to have it in place by the time the school opens this fall. Staffers still have to order pencils, chairs and about 520 desks, and are thinking about adding solar panels.
Jones said he hoped to hold an official opening ceremony sometime in September.
The school is holding open houses at 6:30 p.m. on March 16 and April 20. There will also be a silent auction for the playground on March 18 at The Beer Hunter. Visit leh.spschools.org for details.
