Emmett Brass was practically bouncing out of his shoes with excitement Tuesday morning. It was his first day of school, and his first day at the new Sister Alphonse Academy.
“I wanna go to my class right away!” he exclaimed, adding that he was looking forward to lunch.
Emmett’s mother, Tristan, said this was a bittersweet moment for her, as it was her son’s first journey into the school system.
“He’s just so excited to learn.”
Brass is one of the thousands of St. Albert and Sturgeon-area students who headed back to school Tuesday. He is also one of the first to attend Sister Alphonse, which is the first new Catholic school to open in St. Albert in 20 years.
Principal Greg Lamer was at the front entrance to greet each of the school’s hundred-some students as they came in the door.
“For the last year and a half I’ve been planning for opening, for this day,” Lamer said.
“It’s great to see all the kids here.”
The school itself is starting small, as it’s meant to have 400 K-to-9 students. Lamer expected many more to enrol as the year goes on and the neighbourhood grows.
Most of the school's students trickled in by foot or car with their parents in tow. Carter and Colby Bergstrom were the only students to arrive by bus. (Lamer said he expected ridership to rise, as many parents drove their kids on the first day of school.)
“I’m more excited for this year than last year I had at Neil M. Ross because we get to have a new school,” Colby said, adding that he liked the school’s open design.
While the school itself was essentially complete, apart from some landscaping, the neighbourhood around it is still very much under construction. Heavy equipment rumbled past as the students arrived for class and a backhoe was digging across the street. Students could also look out their windows at crews in fluorescent vests assembling Joseph M. Demko School next door.
Lamer said students would spend their next week getting to know each other and picking out a school mascot, and were warming up for the Terry Fox Run at the end of the month. The school’s grand opening is set for mid-October.
“Today we have seen your smiling faces, and we’re going to embark on a great adventure,” Lamer said in his opening address over the PA system.
“Everyone have a super great day.”
Watch your speed
Bylaw and RCMP officers were out in force Tuesday to remind drivers to watch out for students. They were also enforcing school zone speed limits, which, as of Tuesday, are back in effect from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in St. Albert.St. Albert RCMP Cpl. Laurel Kading said police will often encounter drivers who don’t realize school has restarted in this first week of September, as well as parents who block crosswalks or double- or triple-park while dropping off their kids.
“We want all kids to get to school safely and back home safely, and we need everybody’s help to make that happen.”
Kading encouraged parents to walk their kids to school or have them take the bus to reduce traffic jams, and to give themselves extra time to get to school if they drive. Pedestrians should lock eyes with drivers before crossing the street and stay off their smartphones to avoid the risks of “distracted walking.”
