LCHS hosts tour of renovations

Lloydminster Comprehensive High School (LCHS) hosted a media tour of its estimated $28.8 million expansion with a focus on a completed renovated area for student services.

The tour was led by school principal Dwayne Marciniw on Tuesday in the context of needing space to accommodate about 330 Grade 9 students starting this fall.

“It was important for us when we designed the space to create a central hub for student support services,” said Marciniw.

“Those supports come in terms of social and emotional supports and counselling services.”

Marciniw thinks the space will benefit the Grade 9s by allowing them to look at career options down the road, maybe a little bit earlier, along with a greater selectivity of courses at LCHS than at middle schools.

“It’s planning ahead for when the Grade 9s get here,” he said.

Lloydminster Public School Division (LPSD) chair, David Thompson, said the dream of changing the grade configuration and bringing Grade 9s to LCHS started about seven years ago.

“To do that, they needed to renovate the main area,” said Thompson, who expects enrolment to total up to 1,200 students with the added Grade 9s.

He also notes the concerns for student mental wellness that arose during the pandemic are reflected in the student services space.

“It’s a very attractive place for students to come to, and it’s an opportunity for some privacy and lots of support,” he said.

The student services area, along with some offices, opened in January with Grade 12 students Tyra KrykowskiLumgair and Ryha Payne frequent users of the space they see as an oasis from the classroom.

“It’s an area where students who aren’t comfortable—like, talk about myself— I struggle in a classroom environment—we can go here and work some - where privately and quietly,” said Lumgair.

“We can catch up on our schoolwork and get the help we need. You can get emotional and academic support.”

There is also an Indigenous grade coach connected to the area where Indigenous students can go for mentorship and advocacy.

The student services room has seven counsellors, including three education support teachers (EST) that Payne relies on to cope with her learning disabilities and anxiety.

“Being able to come here and being able to have support systems like during tests or when I’m struggling in math classes is really helpful,” said Payne.

The teen says she can request an EST to read her a test in a quiet place in the student services area.

“I freak out a lot and I forget all my materials, so they usually read me my tests and put me in a different room than anyone,” explained Payne.

Thompson says Marciniw put a lot of his work into designing the space with the archi - tects and concludes the board is extremely pleased with how it’s turned out.

“It’s very functional and very attractive,” he said.

Marciniw describes it as a modernized space with an elevated workspace in front of windows for natural light equipped with cubicles for individual work and tables for groups.

“The feedback has been tremendous from staff and students,” he said.

“They love the area; they know where to go. Students come in here that don’t require support, but want to look at the area and what it has to offer.”

LPSD facility manager Wayne Grass provided media with a quick look at the construction of the new wing that will house 17 classrooms, a new home economics lab and the

Synergy Place gym.

Grassl says they are hoping to start occupying the addition at the beginning of 2024.

“It’s awesome to have some new classrooms for kids to grow into.

Integrating the Grade 9s with the 10 to 12s will be interesting,” he said with 9-12 high schools being the trend.

“That kind of evens the playing field the way we do things with athletics.”