Sturgeon Public students will be able to go to school in Legal starting this fall as a new school opens its doors.
Sturgeon Public Schools announced June 9 that it will open a new preschool-to-Grade 4 school in Legal this September.
Sturgeon Public has offered classes to Legal students since 2011 but has struggled to find school space in the community, said acting superintendent Shawna Warren (formerly Walter). While some public-school students have attended class in town (the district had one classroom there in 2013-2014, and has run its Headstart preschool program out of the Chateau Sturgeon Lodge since 2017), most have had to take a bus to Bon Accord or Morinville to attend school.
Sturgeon Public renewed its search for space this year after it lost the grant it had used to run Headstart out of Chateau Sturgeon, Warren said. Administration called the Association canadienne français de l’Alberta (ACFA), which has a facility north of Legal’s St. Emile Roman Catholic Church that it has been renting to the Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord to house École Citadelle.
The ACFA was looking for a new tenant as École Citadelle is set to move into a new school building in Legal this July, said ACFA regional director Josée Côté. The association agreed to have Sturgeon Public take over École Citadelle’s old home on June 8.
“We’re happy to have someone rent the space, for sure,” Côté said, as it would have been very costly to maintain otherwise.
Côté said Sturgeon Public will use the newer half of the ACFA facility, which features three classrooms, office space, and a gymnasium. The other half (a brick building which once served as a residence for a convent) will be demolished.
Warren said the new school will initially be known as Legal Public School, with staff and students picking a new name later. Kessia Brenneis will be the principal of both this school and Bon Accord Community School.
The school will house any preschool-to-Grade 4 public-school students in Legal who do not wish to go to Bon Accord or Morinville, including the Headstart students, Warren continued. (The board has maybe 50 students from Legal across all grades.) While this will mean the end of the intergenerational program at Chateau Sturgeon (which saw students read stories and played games with seniors), Warren said the school hopes to continue working with area seniors in the future.
Registration for Legal Public (5109-46 Street in Legal) is now open. Visit legalpublicschool.ca for details.
