Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) is calling on the Blackfalds community to help name the new high school planned for the growing town
The new, 950 capacity high school for WCPS in Blackfalds was announced in March 2020, with the school slated to be completed in September of 2024.
A public engagement has been launched calling on naming submissions from parents, staff, students and community members.
“What we are looking for is for people throughout Blackfalds to take part in our online ‘I think the school name should be’ survey,” said Tim De Ruyck, WCPS superintendent. “The survey simply asks for participants to identify if they are a parent, staff member, student or community member. It then asks for them to offer a name suggestion and provide some supporting information and rationale for the suggestion.”
The survey is the first step in the naming process. Name suggestions will be collected and vetted by the guidelines outlined in WCPS’s administrative procedure. These include discouraging the use of an individual’s name for schools. The division recognizes that other schools in the community may already have names that reflect local demographics, historical considerations or unique geographical features and in those situations, the division will give strong consideration to a name that reflects the community’s commitment to aligning with other names. The division said they encourage the submission of names that reflect or take into consideration the mission and vision of the division.
The names should also be significant to WCPS’ students, parents, and the Blackfalds community, and be easily identifiable with the facility.
“We look forward to the suggestions from our school community in Blackfalds, and are excited as we keep moving closer to the new high school becoming a reality in Blackfalds,” said De Ruyck.
Participants can complete the survey more than once and provide more than one name suggestion. Following vetting for appropriate criteria, submissions will then be reviewed by a Blackfalds school naming committee, that will narrow the suggestions down to recommendations for the Wolf Creek board of trustees.
The deadline to submit a name is April 17 at 12 p.m. More information and the survey can be found at wolfcreek.ab.ca/blackfalds-new-high-school.