Cochrane Christian Academy (CCA) will move to a new location at the start of the 2023/24 school year in September. The Board of Trustees of Rocky View Schools (RVS) approved providing CCA with their own school building by moving all CCA Kindergarten to Grade 8 students to the school on Powell Street at its meeting today. The school on Powell Street will now be called the Cochrane Christian Academy. CCA currently shares a campus with Mitford School.

The Board considered multiple scenarios for determining which students should move to the school on Powell Street. The Board carefully reviewed and considered stakeholder feedback through the four-month engagement consultation while making this decision. The Board believes moving all CCA students to the new school and creating a new French Immersion (FI) middle school program best serves all Cochrane students and the utilization of Cochrane schools.

“We know there will be mixed reactions to this news as we received a broad range of opinions, ideas and preferences from families. We are committed to upporting all students through this transition and creating a positive learning environment at the brightly renovated school,” said Board Chair, Norma Lang. “Ensuring siblings and friends can remain together on one campus under one administration is something CCA families told us was important to maintaining the faith-based culture the school has developed over the years.”

The FI middle school program will be created at Mitford with FI students who currently attend Glenbow Elementary School in Grade 4 moving to Mitford in September 2023 for Grade 5 – 8.

The addition of the school on Powell Street will provide much-needed additional student spaces in Cochrane; however, enrolment in Cochrane schools continues to rise by about 300 new students annually, and new schools are urgently needed. The current utilization rate of schools in the Town of Cochrane is 96 per cent. The Board is committed to continuing to advocate to the provincial government for construction approval for much-needed new schools in Cochrane.

“While we are excited to add another school to our division – especially in Cochrane where there’s a critical need for more space for students – we recognize that as the town continues to grow, we will need to look at other solutions to accommodate RVS’ rising enrolment in Cochrane,” said Lang. “The reality is enrolment in Cochrane is going to continue to increase and without approval for new schools, RVS will continue to experience student space issues for the foreseeable future.”

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