New elementary officially opens

By Lethbridge Herald on September 13, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The West Coulee Station Elementary School celebrated its official grand opening Friday morning with an assembly in the brand-new school’s gymnasium. 

Students wore blue t-shirts showcasing the school logo and sat in the middle of the gymnasium floor while surrounded by their teachers on each side of the group and family members on the bleachers, alongside Grade 5 students who sang O Canada at the beginning of the event. 

At the front, a table showcased what was later unveiled as two plaques presented to the school, and a podium. To the sides there was multiple chairs where special guests sat and waved hello to the students and staff when introduced by Principal and Master of Ceremonies Dean Hawkins. 

Special guests included Minister of Infrastructure Martin Long, Lethbridge-West MLA Rob Miyashiro, Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf, Mayor Blaine Hyggen, and multiple city counsellors. 

Lethbridge School Division Superintendent Mike Nightingale, Board of Trustees chair Christine Light, construction and architectural design representatives were also on hand.

During the grand opening ceremony, school district board chair Christine Light spoke some of her words in Spanish, recognizing the bilingualism within the school, which is now the host of the district’s Spanish program. 

At the end of the ceremony, students had a surprise visit from a “digital mascot” as the school shared with them that they will have the opportunity to see a robotic dog on special occasions, for learning purposes and for rewarding their efforts. The students were excited to see the robotic dog doing some tricks before he waved goodbye and left the gymnasium. 

Principal Dean Hawkins said celebrating with the kids was the most important part, and to show them how important it is to be part of the opening of a new school. 

“We did an open house the week before school for just the families and the kids and they were very excited,” he said. “Their eyes were popping out, and I think the parents appreciated it even more than the kids.”

Hawkins added that staff were also excited to see the “finished product,” even though many of them helped prepare the school for students. 

“I was fortunate enough to be part of the modernization at Wilson (Middle School), but the big difference with this is that everything is new, it comes in boxes, so here in their words it was Christmas every day,” said Hawkins. 

He also offered his gratitude and appreciation to the many volunteers who took the time to help organize and decorate the school during the summer.

“To see the fact that people volunteer throughout their summer on a daily basis, was a testament of why this people chose to work here, so it’s pretty awesome.”

While the school’s official capacity is 900 students, Hawkins said the initial enrollment is at 470. 

Light said the WCSE is also helping to relieve some of the capacity issues with other schools in the district.

“This facility certainly addresses capacity issues that we’ve been experiencing as a division and the west side is projected to continue to grow, so this is certainly a first step,” said Light. 

Other steps that will follow include another elementary school and a high school to help alleviate overcrowding at that level as well.