Sunday December 17, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Students who focus on sports through the various Academies within Sooke School District 62 (SD62) in Langford have ended up with their own off-campus study location with four classrooms inside the Eagle Ridge Community Centre.
The school has its own assigned teachers that deliver instruction on all core subjects (Math, Science, English, PHE) as well as electives. Any courses not delivered face-to-face are available online for students.
The school currently has 96 students who are involved in high performance programs outside of the District such as hockey, rugby, golf and mountain biking. That’s about 2.5% of the total 3,914 high school students in SD62 (in standard schools at Belmont Secondary in Langford, Royal Bay in Colwood, and Edward Milne/EMCS in Sooke). Overall SD62 student population has increased about 5% per year over the last three years.
Due to time spent at SD62 Academy locations that are clustered in Langford at or near Belmont Secondary School (e.g. Eagle Ridge arena for skating, Boulder House for rock climbing, Goudy Field for soccer, golf at Bear Mountain, mountain biking at Jordie Lunn, etc.) it seems that studying remotely made sense instead of travelling back and forth to the regular high school on Langford Lake Road. This sports landscape was developed within the previous City of Langford council’s sports tourism vision.
As well, some students who would regularly attend Royal Bay Secondary School in Colwood and Edward Milne Community School in Sooke are also better able to continue with non-sport studies by attending Eagle Ridge. This expands upon sporting opportunities (by enrolment in SD62 Academies as well as amateur and professional connections) to all high school students in the district.
“Students registered in academy program attend regular classes at the designated school for the academy, or with some academics they attend their in-catchment school and attend programming outside of the timetable,” it was stated last week by SD62.
District principal:
Clearly a win for sports-enthusiast Wayne Kelly, his role as District Principal of Academies has blossomed over the years to this high-point within the administration of the fast-growing west shore SD62 school district.
Kelly started as a full-time administrator for the academy programs back in 2015. At that time, there were about 300 to 500 students enrolled in Academies. As of Fall 2023, there are currently 1,390 students registered in academy programs, according to SD62.
Academy registration for both middle and secondary for 2024-2025 will begin at 8 a.m. on February 12, 2024; registrations will continue to be accepted until the Academy reaches capacity on a first-come, first-served basis. Range of programs:
- Eco Academy [non-sport]
- Hockey
- Soccer
- Dance
- Equine Studies
- Baseball
- Softball
- Lacrosse
- Golf
- Pace Musical Academy
- Mountain Biking [new in 2023/24]
- Climbing Academy
Kelly’s leadership has helped build not only the sports activities themselves within schools but also a network with professional sports organizations that have increasingly found their executive home in Langford (e.g. rugby and soccer).
District Principals make more than teachers; the salary range for an ‘associate principal’ is approximately $105,656 per year.
SD62 has other district principals for areas that require focussed attention by load and/or policy, such as a district principal for facility development in the fast-growing west shore and one for international education where there is a strong revenue stream.
School opened in January 2023:
The new sports-student secondary school option was first approved back at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, for students in Grades 9 to 12 looking to complete their education while in training for high performance programs for athletics or the arts.
The secondary school is located inside the Eagle Ridge Community Centre and welcomed its inaugural class of students in January 2023.
The school was temporarily known as Eagle Ridge Secondary School.
School name process:
A consultation process for a permanent name of the secondary school began in September 2023.
The process involved students, parents/caregivers, staff, school community members and the Indigenous Nations the Sooke School District works with (T’Sou-ke Nation, Sc’ianew Nation, Pacheedaht Nation, Esquimalt Nation and Songhees Nation). The Nations determined the gifting of a name would come through Sc’ianew Nation, which is the nearest nation to the school location.
The Elders of Sc’ianew Nation met in early November 2023 to discuss a name for the new secondary school. With guidance from SENĆOTEN language teachers and local Elders Lavina Charles and Shirley Alphonse, the SENĆOTEN name recommendation to bring forward for the school was QELEṈSEN Á,LEṈ Secondary School (pronounced K-wuh-Lun-Sun, Eh Lun). QELEṈSEN Á, LEṈ is SENĆOTEN, and translates to “Eagle House”.
“The powerful spirit, resilience and grace that the Eagle symbolizes are the attributes that come with the word, QELEṈSEN and the word, Á, LEṈ means house or in this context, school,” it was stated in a recent news release from SD62.
Indigenous name approved at November 2023 board meeting:
The Board of Education unanimously passed a motion to name the new secondary school QELEṈSEN Á,LEṈ Secondary School during the SD62 public board meeting held on November 21, 2023. The current board is headed up by Amanda Dowhy (Chair) and Ebony Logins (Vice-Chair), with trustees Cendra Beaton, Russ Chipps, Christine Lervold, Trudy Spiller and Allison Watson.
With the acceptance of QELEṈSEN Á,LEṈ for the new school name, District Principal Wayne Kelly along with students and staff will begin working on a logo that they hope to share before the end of the school year.
Path of reconciliation:
“By accepting a gifted Indigenous name for the school, we have an opportunity to contribute to the preservation, revitalization and the strengthening of local history, language and culture,” said Board Chair Amanda Dowhy.
“As part of walking the path of reconciliation, the Board of Education is committed to embodying a sense of belonging in our schools and honouring the Indigenous peoples that have called these lands home since time immemorial.”
The Board of Education has accepted a gifted name for the latest school additions in the District:
- PEXSISEN Elementary School (which opened in September 2022 in the Westhills area),
- Centre Mountain Lellum Middle School (which opened in September 2022 in the Westhills area), and
- SĆIȺNEW_ SṮEȽIṮḴEȽ Elementary (the elementary school currently under construction on Latoria Boulevard in south Langford).
“Receiving a gifted name from the Nations in our District is a testament of the care that they have for these lands and the children who are growing and learning on them,” said SD62 Deputy Superintendent Paul Block.
“To borrow from Elder Shirley Alphonse, it is our responsibility to continue working side by side, supporting each and working together to ensure that the deep history, truths and connections to these lands are not lost and that the past is anchored to the present.”
===== RELATED:
Indigenous name gifted to new elementary school in south Langford (August 14, 2023)
Alive with gardens and light at SD62’s new PEXSISEN Elementary (September 3, 2022)
SD62 capital plan: new schools, seismic upgrades, replacements (July 7, 2022)
Delay in opening new SD62 middle school in Sept 2022 (April 10, 2022)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends follows the news of south Vancouver Island and BC through a political and socioeconomic lens, with an eye to national politics impacts on life here on Vancouver Island. News is posted daily at IslandSocialTrends.ca . | ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS
Editor Mary P Brooke has been providing news coverage leadership in the west shore and region since 2008, as the founding publisher and editor of MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), West Shore Voice News (2014-2020), and Island Social Trends (online since mid-2020 and also in print starting 2024).
Her news coverage of Sooke School District 62 (SD62) has been focussed at the board and committee level since 2014.
Mary P Brooke ran for school trustee in SD62 (Belmont Zone / west shore) in 2022 and continues to cover education issues at both local and provincial levels.