Holy Spirit school division sees increase in student numbers

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 17, 2024.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Catholic Central High School has reached an enrollment of 1,000 students for the first time in its history, with the total student amount being tallied among both campuses.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Holy Spirit Catholic School Division recently announced an increase in enrollment, up to 234 students over the last year due in part to large surges at many schools.

Board chair Carmen Mombourquette said the increase has been felt across many schools with Catholic Central High School being one of the most noticeable – reaching a population of 1,000 students for the first time in its history.

“This is between both campuses, as Catholic Central is considered one school, but oddly enough back when I was the principal there, on my very final year we actually had 980,” said Mombourquette.

He was referring to what is now considered the East Campus, and added that at the time they were at 140 per cent capacity, which is why Holy Spirit was able to secure government funding to build the West Campus.

When it comes to the distribution of students among the campuses Mombourquette explained that students have a choice based on the programming they want to attend, while also keeping in mind where they live.

 “Many of the children who live in West Lethbridge will attend campus West and the southsiders and northsiders attend campus East. But if they want to take part of a particular program, then they would be able to go over to the corresponding campus,” said Mombourquette.

He said ideally the students would remain in one campus per quarter, but they can accommodate students to be bused between campuses if needed.

Other schools experiencing an enrollment increase include Trinity School with a 47 per cent increase, St. Paul School with a 16 per cent increase, St. Francis Junior High School with a 12 per cent increase, Ecole St. Mary School with an eight per cent increase, St. Patrick Fine Arts Elementary School with a six per cent increase and St. Teresa of Calcutta School with a six per cent increase.

Mombourquette said the increase in enrollment in those schools is attributed to a variety of reasons, from families moving into the city, to families moving within the city to a specific school’s boundary, to families from other Christian based faiths enrolling their children within the division.

“One of the interesting increases that we’ve noticed this year is from other Christian parents as well as Muslims parents wanting their children to be exposed a faith-based education and they’ve been enrolling their children within our schools,” said Mombourquette.

He added that something he has noticed in the nearly 44 years of involvement with education is that parents enroll their children in schools where they know their children are going to receive a quality education, are going to be safe and cared for.

Mombourquette also noted that many children currently enrolled within the division are the children of former students, as families continue to bring their children to the division generation after generation.