The first day of school for Greentree School students is on Tuesday, September 3 and it is looking like a fun year with new faces on staff and in the student body.
Principal Shelley Friesen tells the Mail that registration is consistent with about 353 students enrolled so far.
“Nothing beats the energy of the first day of school; the kids and their excitement make it the best day ever,” said Friesen. “The returning students have grown and changed and will have stories to share. The new students will also have so much to share, and we look forward to getting to know them and their families. We have an open house/meet the teacher that first day; it is always an excellent start to the year.”
There have been a few changes at the school. Peter Ehrman has joined the administrative team as Vice Principal at Greentree.
“Peter has taught at Greentree, in Strathmore at George Freeman School, and worked as an Instructional Coach for Golden Hills School Division. His teaching duties will include working with grade six students,” said Friesen.
Greentree School welcomes Haleigh Foley who will be the school’s new Strive teacher. Greentree School started its Strive program a couple of years ago. This program offers special needs students a safe environment to learn basic skills for living and curriculum material based on their abilities and learning needs. Foley is from Calgary and has experience working with Renfrew specialists and students with needs.
Hailey Kenney is a local new teacher who taught Kindergarten and Grade one for the last half of last year and returns to Greentree School in this capacity again.
Greentree also welcomes Kathleen Gorospe, who comes from Manning in northern Alberta. She will fill a leave in grade 3 until December.
Shelby Job comes to us from Morrin and will teach a split classroom for Grades 2 and 3, she is another local teacher.
The school has some exciting programs.
“We hope to enhance our students’ educational experiences with coding, robotics, and other Career and Technology Foundation programs. We are working with DVSS to include high school students if possible,” said Friesen. “We have also partnered with the Drumheller Dragons to offer a Hockey Program once again.

St. Anthony’s School is welcoming four new teachers into the fold, and some might be familiar.
Back to school starts for St. Anthony’s on Wednesday, August 28. Students were able to drop their backpacks on Tuesday night, and take the an opportunity to meet teachers, and drop off school supplies.
Principal Celeste Schrock tells the Mail they are welcoming Kirstin Sutcliffe to teach elementary Music and Gr. 6 Science/Social. She has been a member of St. Anthony’s school community for many years as a parent and substitute, a well-known piano teacher in Drumheller.
Daniel Roes will be teaching construction and options as well as working as a local substitute. He taught in Northern Alberta before returning home to Drumheller last year.
Camille Belzil will be teaching Grade 9 Math/Science and Senior Science. He comes from Calgary and has more than 10 years of teaching with Calgary Catholic.
Peter Lan will be teaching Sr. Math/Science and Options. He comes from Calgary and taught last year with Fort McMurray Catholic.
Luke Newman hails from Saskatoon and will be teaching Grade 7 LA/Band.
Christ the Redeemer School Division (CTR) is continuing to enhance the educational experience for all our students. In the last year of its Four-Year Education Plan, CTR will continue to focus on priorities of Catholic faith, academic excellence and healthy schools. CTR will enter the second year of its three-year faith theme “Faith Seeking Understanding”. CTR is also aligning the faith plan for next year with the focus on strengthening the family-school-parish connection
“Our mission at CTR is to provide an authentically Catholic education for our students. As we embark on this new school year, we are committed to creating a nurturing environment where students can thrive academically, socially, and spiritually. We are looking forward to welcoming our students and their families back to school and working together to make this year exceptional,” said Superintendent Andrea Holowka.
The Division’s “Learning” priority will remain focused on academic excellence. CTR prides itself on students’ academic achievements, but as always, it is continually seeking ways to do better. Areas in this work include the yearly November data review day where school administration takes a deep dive into their school results. All teachers continue to be supported through Teacher Growth Supervision and Evaluation, a process which involves teacher observation by senior administrators, principals, and vice principals and ensures high-quality instruction for students.