The principal at Okotoks’ newest school will get a chance few in her position do to put her own stamp on it from the ground up.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for most administrators to be able to open a new school because you really are building something from nothing, from the ground up,” said Rebecca Forchuk.
The Foothills School Division named Forchuk as the principal of the new K-9 school to be built along 32 Street in Okotoks’ north end.
The official groundbreaking for the school was Feb. 6 and it’s expected to open in September 2019. The school does not have a name yet and the division has not yet set attendance boundaries for the new school.
Construction plans already exist, but Forchuk will be heavily involved in planning work over the next year
“The blueprint itself is created, there will be solar panels on it, so some of that work has been done,” she said. “In terms of the furniture, the colours, your staff, the vision, mission, values, the mascot, everything is my responsibility.”
Forchuk said the school will have a lot of flexible space for students to work and learn collaboratively.
“I love that it’s set up for the whole child, so we will have strong academics for sure, but the gym is quite big, so strong athletics,” she said. “We can have a strong arts program, there’s the potential.”
It’s an exciting opportunity to not just build a school, but to build a community and culture, said Forchuk.
“Being able to start and build a culture around learning and thinking and developing that strong community culture is always exciting because you don’t inherit something that came before you, you’re creating something,” she said.
It’s Forchuk’s first time in the principal’s chair.
She began her teaching career at the Northern Gateway School Division at the middle school level and moved to the Foothills Division in 2006. In 2009, Forchuk became vice-principal at C. Ian McLaren School in Black Diamond and then took up the position at Red Deer Lake School.
In 2010, she moved to the division office, where she was director of staff development. Forchuk worked to build capacity within the division for improved assessment, instruction and curriculum.
As part of the job she has been working on the leading edge in educational trends and research.
However, Forchuk said she missed getting to know the students and their families and she looks forward to getting back to a school every day.
“I’ve had the luxury of working with 19 schools over six years and working with lots of different teachers and lots of different students,” she said. “Being able to build those relationships with students and families is something that in this role you don’t necessarily get, so that is definitely what excites me.”
