Rocky View County (RVC) council approved the Master Site Plan and rezoning application to allow the establishment of a new school for students with differential learning needs near Bearspaw during the Dec. 13 meeting.
Council unanimously approved the application by Renfrew Educational Services to establish its newest school on a parcel located west of Highway 1A that is bound by Township Road 254 to the north and Township Road 254A to the east.
Renfrew Education Services already operates Janice McTighe Centre (JMC), the Child Development Centre (CDC), Bowness Centre, and the Thomas W. Buchanan Centre (TBC) locations in Calgary. Renfrew Education Services currently serves 550 children each year across its four locations.
Renfrew Educational Services is a registered Canadian charity and designated Special Education School in the province of Alberta. Since 1974, it has welcomed families and children with significant differential learning needs, including diagnoses such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and Global Development Delays.
The parcel where its new school will be established in Bearspaw was previously designated for agricultural use only. It is adjacent to the Bearspaw School and Bearspaw Lifestyle Centre, which lie to the southwest.
While most residents in the immediate area of the new school appear to be in support of the build, there was some concerns expressed about the potential for increased bus traffic on an already busy roadway during the Dec. 13 council meeting. But given the buses being used would be handi-buses, which are smaller in size than regular school buses, and the fact new school’s access would not be on Bearspaw Road, (the main artery to Bearspaw School), council felt it should not overly impact traffic flows in the area.
Thanks to public input received at the meeting on Dec. 13, council also felt the project might have an opportunity to tie into the City of Calgary’s regional sewer line that already exists in the area – with more consultations between City and County staff to come on the issue.
Division 3 Coun. and Mayor Crystal Kissel moved to approve Renfrew’s Master Site plan and rezoning application.
“I do believe this is a great project,” she said. “It’s regional (with Calgary). We always talk about doing regional things. Here it is in our lap. And it is a great service to all the communities (nearby).
