March 11, 2024 - Construction Funding Approved
March 11, 2024
The Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education is thrilled to announce that our school division has been officially granted full construction funding for a K-9 school in the Government of Alberta’s New schools in Alberta’s growing communities announcement yesterday afternoon.
The funding approval marks a significant milestone in our journey towards our goal of building a new, state of the art Catholic school, that will be known as Holy Trinity Academy. Holy Trinity Academy will combine three of our current schools; St. Francis Xavier, St. Michael’s and St. Mary’s into one school community, located on the current St. Francis Xavier school site (318 - 8th Street NE) adjacent to Monsignor McCoy High School.
The highly anticipated K-9 school will support students from Early Learning to grade 9, with a well established fine arts program, as well as wellness/multisport academy. The school will be equipped with a 400 seat theatre, accessible to all division schools and community organizations as well as two full sized gymnasiums, a beautiful sacred space, a physical literacy space, CTS suite, sensory and wellness rooms as well as many other classrooms and learning spaces.
The Board of Trustees is eager to move forward with this project now that funding has been approved and is committed to regular communication with staff, students and community stakeholders regarding the new school project.
In November, a school naming committee was formed to discuss potential name options for the new school. The goal of the committee was to bring all feedback to the group and to select one option to propose to the Board for approval at the next public board meeting.
On Tuesday, December 13, 2023, the Board of Trustees approved the proposed name for the new school project. The new school,l located on the current St. Francis Xavier school site (318 - 8th Street N.E.), will be named Holy Trinity Academy.
The name was chosen for a variety of reasons, the primary reason being the symbolism of three schools (St. Mary’s, St. Michael’s and St. Francis Xavier) joining together as one; as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. The word “Academy” was chosen to represent the academy programming: St. FX Sports Academy, St. Michael’s Fine Arts focus and St. Mary’s Fine Arts Academy that will be transitioning to the new school building upon completion.
The Board of Trustees, Senior Administration and School Administrators are pleased with the thoughtful naming decision, and look forward to watching three schools come together as one!
Holy Trinity Academy updates can be found on our division website. As the project progresses more information will be shared!
School Naming Process:
When new schools are being built families and community members wonder what the name of the new school in their community will be and how that name is chosen. At the MHCBE, the naming of a new school or a change in the name of an existing school is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees.
To select a school name, the Board of Trustees will organize a school naming committee. The committee will then recommend a name for the school to the Board of Trustees for approval.
Stakeholders are invited to join The Board of Trustees and Senior Administration for a “New School Visioning Meeting” on Tuesday, October 17.
This meeting is an opportunity for staff, families and community members to share input regarding spaces in our newest Catholic school! Alberta Infrastructure and FWBA Architects will also be in attendance.
The new school visioning meeting will focus on discussion points such as:
- Learning Commons
- CTS Suite
- Science Labs
- Inclusive Rooms
- Canteen
- Sensory Room
- Gym/Physical Literacy Space
- Music Room
- Sacred Space
- School Accessibility
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Holy Family Parish Hall
Who: All stakeholders
Learn more about the new school project:
Event Poster
New School Project
Frequently Asked Questions