The name for the new school in the Westmount area of Okotoks will be — Westmount School.
The kindergarten to Grade 9 school, which is scheduled to open in September 2012, has been informally called Westmount School since the provincial government approved funding to build the school three years ago.
Foothills School Division chair Diana Froc said after some discussion it was decided to make Westmount School the official name.
“We received a short list from the school’s planning committee and the conclusion was that Westmount School is the name,” she said at the board’s public meeting in High River on April 20.
Okotoks town council voted unanimously to have the school named after long-time teacher Mary Gillard, an octogenarian who has lived and worked in the Foothills area for years before retiring in 2008.
Froc said in an interview after the meeting, it is not the school division’s policy to name schools after living people.
She said there are too many candidates, who like Gillard, are also worthy of the honour.
She said the possibility of naming a gymnasium or library after Gillard, such as the Kenn Eastlick Gymnasium at Okotoks Junior High School, is a possibility.
None of the names short-listed by the planning committee were names in honour of people. At present, the lone school named after a living person is Joe Clark School in High River.
There are schools named in honour of past residents including Percy Pegler and Dr. Morris Gibson in Okotoks.
Construction
The construction of Westmount School is not on schedule. In fact, it’s about four months ahead of schedule.
Drew Chapman, Foothills assistant superintendent/corporate service, said while the school is scheduled to open for students in the fall of 2012, it could be ready for occupancy in May, if the pace of construction continues.
However, he said the division may not have teachers and staff prepared to move so far ahead of schedule, because of the cost of insurance.
