The days are getting longer and nights are getting cooler. Soon school buses will be en route as classes begin at St. Anthony’s School.
Principal Celeste Schrock tells the Mail enrollment at the K-12 school continues to increase.
“We have growth in our Junior High with two of each grade. We are still accepting registrations so anyone interested in enrolling is still welcome to do so,” she said.
The school is welcoming three new teachers. Kelvin Li is coming from Ontario and will teach Junior and Senior High math and computer science. Samuel Eneje is also coming to teach Junior and Senior High math, science, and various options. Eneje is originally from Nigeria and most recently taught in Northern Alberta. Claire Heistad is from Innisfail and will be teaching grade 3.
“We are excited to welcome these new teachers to our school and our community,” said Schrock.
The school is also welcoming Raelene Maunula in the role of receptionist. She and her family are long-time residents of Drumheller and come to the school with years of experience working in a school office.
Schrock explains the school will be implementing the new Alberta Kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum, and four teachers spent two weeks this summer working in teams to create curriculum support documents.
The Junior High is implementing quarterly options this school year. Schrock says this “has doubled the number of options for students and allows for a wide variety of experiences. Both our teachers and students are excited about this change.”
Christ the Redeemer School Division will continue its focus on faith, academic excellence and healthy schools.
“We are beginning a new three-year Faith Plan, Faith Seeking Understanding, with this year’s theme being Encountering Beauty Through Faith & Science. Teachers will continue to work in teams on Friday afternoons to review, examine, and improve student learning. Healthy Schools will focus on intellectual, mental, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical wellbeing for staff and students,” said Schrock.
“What we look forward to the most, is September 5th when our students walk through the doors. That’s when our building comes alive!”

Town of Drumheller’s administration and council are looking for ways to help alleviate some stressors on the local housing market, and during the regular Monday, August 14 council meeting, council approved a request to submit an application to the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to help spur new housing development.
Manager of Economic Development, Reg Johnston, explained during council presentation the $4 billion initiative was first introduced in the 2022 federal budget and municipalities were encouraged to submit action plans to help accelerate housing development.
Through the Small, Rural, North, Indigenous program stream, the Town could receive up to a potential $54,000 per new housing unit built, depending on if the build meets certain criteria. Each new unit built as a result of HAF initiatives is eligible for $20,000; an additional $19,000 is available for each affordable housing unit, and an additional $7,000 to $15,000 is also available if the unit meets criteria of being a “missing middle” unit, which are defined as multi-family and other clustered housing type units, such as apartments, which are a “missing” housing demographic in many municipalities.
Mr. Johnston noted the original HAF application deadline of Friday, August 18 has been extended to Friday, September 29, and shares this could impact when response is received about the Town’s application.
As part of the application, a three-year action plan was submitted; this outlined a projected 125 housing units to be permitted without support from the Housing Accelerator Fund. With support from the fund, it is hoped this can be increased to 222 units, and would include additional missing middle housing and some other multi-unit dwellings.
Along with the action plan, the Town is required to support a minimum of five initiatives, which must be completed within this three-year period and must provide changes which will continue for at least the next decade. Administration identified and recommended a total of six initiatives based on this criteria, including an incentive program to encourage and promote secondary or garden suites within existing single-detached residences, a tiny home project which would offer more affordable housing options, and development of an employee housing complex to support seasonal employees within the downtown area.
Council approved the action plan and directed Mr. Johnston to submit the application for the Housing Accelerator Fund.