WEYBURN - The Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division has seen a six per cent increase in enrolments for the 2024-25 school year.
The official enrolment numbers for Sept. 30 show the division had 1,403 students, which is up about 80 from the projected number the division submitted earlier this year, said director of education Ken Sampson.
"There has been a lot of newcomers to Canada, families that would have settled in and around this area, and as we know, there's fluidity in moving from one division to another, so in South East Cornerstone [Public School Division] and Holy Family, there are some movements yearly."
Holy Family has two schools in Estevan. St. Mary's School, which is a kindergarten-Grade 8 school, has 290 students this year, the same as the previous year. Sampson said there was some growth at the start of this school year, but a couple of families moved out of the province.
Sacred Heart School/École Sacré Coeur, which is also a K-8 school but with a French Immersion program, has 371 students, which is up roughly two per cent from the 362 it had a year ago. That school was at 350 students in 2022.
"Both schools, interestingly, are at about … 100 per cent utilization, so our numbers are pretty solid in Estevan," said Sampson.
St. Michael's School in Weyburn, which is a K-9 school, has grown from 517 students to 560 for this year, which Sampson described as a "significant development", while St. Augusta School, a K-8 school in Wilcox, has grown from 57 students to 65 within a couple of years.
Holy Family also has St. Olivier, a K-6 school in Radville.
Sampson said when people move to the area, they will often search online to find which school they want their children to go to given the context they're coming from.
"Holy Family appears to be a landing ground for a lot of new families to the area, and I think the reputation out there is simply that Holy Family Catholic schools have always had a perspective that all children are our children, and we take care of children and families," said Sampson.
As for other changes, Sampson noted the school has a new vice-principal for Sacred Heart, Christa Walton, who is a long-time teacher at the school. Amber Hilstrom remains the Sacred Heart principal.
Ryan Jutras remains the principal at St. Mary's.
"I've been in each school twice … since the beginning of the year, and I have found that the receptivity and the hospitality within our schools is … second to none in my professional experience at this level," said Sampson. "Just in terms of how staff embrace diversity and … welcoming all people into their community is … a heart-warming experience to walk into our two schools in Estevan and to see the degree to which staff are going out of their way to make families and students feel cherished and a part of their community."
