It's the last weekend before the start of school in St. Albert, and that has some teachers scrambling to get their classrooms – and buildings – ready on time.
St. Albert public school students head back to class this Wednesday, with their Sturgeon and Catholic counterparts following the next day.
Teacher Brittney Thompson was setting up sand tables and activity zones for her pre-Kindergarten kids at Vital Grandin this week in preparation.
"It's the first impression kids get of the year to come," she said, so it's important to make sure your room looks inviting.
That means dusting all the cupboards, rewashing all the toys, and raiding Staples, Education Station and garage sales for supplies.
"My husband won't let me go to any more garage sales!" she joked.
One place you didn't find teachers hard at work prepping their rooms for schools last week was Sturgeon Composite High. That's because the place was crammed with about 140 contractors working all week on the school's $35 million renovation.
"Right now my teachers can't go into the building to get ready," said principal John Baldassarre. Many classrooms were still missing flooring or ceiling tiles as of Wednesday.
The rooms will be ready by next week, but the delay means that teachers won't be able to get into them until Monday.
"Some of those teachers now have to compress two weeks (of work) into three days," he said, which may mean lots of after-hours work.
"Teaching is not an 8:30 to 3:30 job, especially not at the beginning of the year."
New schools
The upside of that construction is that students will be walking into a place radically different from the one they left last August.
"We've opened up the front area of the building," Baldassarre said, knocking out many walls and removing planters to create a large front lobby.
The front office is now by the front door instead of around the corner, and the library has become a glass-walled learning commons. There's a whole new hallway on the south side of the building, new lights in the ceiling, a new floor in the gym and a new parking lot outside.
And there are more changes to come: the CTS lab won't be ready for a few weeks, and several chunks of the school will be walled off well into the school year.
W.D. Cuts students will also arrive to a much-changed place this week. The school's $10 million renovation is almost done, and students will get to explore their new classrooms, CTS lab, home economics room and learning commons, said principal Mike Tod.
"About 90 per cent of the building is ours," he said, in contrast to last year, when large chunks of it were construction zones.
"It's going to be like a brand new facility."
The Cuts renovation should be complete by the end of September, Tod said.
Vital Grandin students will also notice a few changes to the school on their return, said principal Cheryl LaBuick. The doors have been painted red as part of a move to deck the school out in its official colours (red and black), and the library has been rebuilt into a learning commons with new tables and couches and – soon to come – a makerspace.
Thompson said she expected to invest up to 60 hours setting up her room by the time school started.
"It's not work, really," she said.
"I like to decorate, I like seeing the kids' faces when they come in and say, 'Oh, look at that, it's so cool!'"
Strike not imminent
Don't worry about teachers going on strike Thursday, says the Alberta Teachers' Association – they're not anywhere near that point yet.<br />Collective agreements for Alberta's 62 teacher bargaining units expire Aug. 31, raising fears in some of the prospect of a strike or lockout.<br />That's not in the cards, said ATA spokesperson Jonathan Teghtmeyer. The province passed Bill 8 last year that changed how teacher contracts were negotiated. Instead of every board negotiating a separate contract with their local teachers, the province and a new Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association will now negotiate some matters province-wide, with boards figuring out the rest locally. <br />The ATA and the province just started talks on province-wide issues over the summer and aren't even close to being done, Teghtmeyer said. They're also "a long way away" from a strike vote, which would be preceded by mediation in any case. Current contracts will remain in force until negotiations are complete.<br />Talks should be wrapped up before the end of the year, Teghtmeyer said.
