St. Kateri School names its first Principal

By Lethbridge Herald on February 13, 2026.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Meghan Calder has been named Principal of St. Kateri Elementary School and will assume her role in August 2026.

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman

Lethbridge Herald

St. Kateri Elementary School, which is set to be ready in January 2027, has officially acquired its inaugural Principal, Meghan Calder. She will assume her role in August. 

“It’s always exciting to be part of something that’s new and different. So, I’m looking forward to being part of the end of the building process at St. Kateri School,” said Calder. “A lot of the decisions have been made, but it will be exciting to be part of the end of that process.” 

She said she is finishing her tenth year of administration experience with Holy Spirit schools, as she spent two years as associate principal at St. Patrick School in Taber, two years as Associate Principal at St. Paul School, and has been the Principal of Our Lady of the Assumption School since 2020 where she guided the school through its successful transition to an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP) School.

“Prior to that, I taught at St. Francis, I taught at St. Pats Fine Arts for 10 years, I taught at Catholic Central, and I’ve taught in a couple different divisions in southern Alberta,” said Calder. 

As a lifelong member of the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division community, Calder attended school within the division and has always called Lethbridge home. 

Calder holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Bachelor of Education, and a Master of Educational Leadership. She has taught Grades 1 through 12 across three Southern Alberta school divisions and has a strong background in Fine Arts education.

“I am looking forward to collaborating with the staff and families of St. Kateri School in building an innovative learning community,” said Calder. 

She said she is excited to set the vision and direction of the school as a community. 

“I’m looking forward to working with the new associate principal, Justin Harper. He’s very innovative as well,” said Calder. “We’re looking forward to having our staff established and then really working together with the staff, the community, and families to determine what we value, who do we want to be and set that direction together.”

When talking about the size of the school, Calder said St. Kateri will house approximately 250 students, which is similar to the size of OLA where she currently works and shared some of the benefits of being part of a small school. 

“One of the benefits of a small school is that we all get to know each other well. For example, I teach every student in the school every week. I know all of the students, they all know me and I’m in their classes every week,” said Calder. 

She shares that as she goes through the registrations that come in for St. Kateri, she is learning where families live, becoming familiar with their area and that will help her figure out what that means in terms of transportation of students. 

“Most of the kids in the school here (OLA), I can tell you where they live or what bus they take or how they get here, that sort of thing. So, I’m looking forward to that in St. Kateri as well because that’s the benefit of a small school,” said Calder.

She said this in turn allows her to build relationships with each family of the school and be able to advocate for the needs of those families. 

Calder said she will be engaging with the community of West Lethbridge, and she started by attending a movie night at Father Leonard Van Tighem School Thursday night. 

“I live in the west side, so I am also looking forward to being closer to home, and slowly but surely getting to know some of the families before our strange opening in September,” said Calder. 

She was referring to the fact that since the school will not be ready until January 2027, students who live within the school boundary will be housed at Father Leonard Van Tighem School from September to December 2026 and will transition to St. Kateri Elementary School once is completed.