Jun. 29, 2017
PDF of Media Release
CALGARY – The Calgary Board of Education is pleased to announce the names of the Aboriginal Learning Centre, which moved to its new facility in January and the southeast high school, which is under construction.
The Aboriginal Learning Centre held a naming ceremony on June 22, 2017 where the school was named Niitsitapi li tass ksii nii mat tsoo kop (Niitsitapi Learning Centre) by Blackfoot Elder Pete Standing Alone. Typically new schools are named by the Board of Trustees; however, in December 2015 the Board approved modifying their policy to ensure that Aboriginal naming protocols were respected and followed.
The name Niitsitapi means a place for all Indigenous/Aboriginal learning.
Programming at the Nittsitapi Learning Centre offers an early learning environment to First Nations, Métis and Inuit students aged 3 to 8 years old.
“This school is all about our students and giving them the best start in their education. I think the new name reflects that purpose and has great meaning for everyone who is part of the school community,” said Joy Bowen-Eyre, CBE Board Chair.
The new high school that is being built in the southeast community of Seton has been named Joane Cardinal-Schubert High School.
Joane Cardinal-Schubert (b. 1942 – d. 2009) was an activist and lobbyist for Aboriginal issues. As a descendent of the Blackfoot/Kainai, Cardinal-Schubert used her talent as an artist and passion for the arts to showcase Aboriginal art, which included Native Quest, a huge and significant exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art for the Alberta Foundation of Art. She was born in Red Deer, Alberta and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Calgary. During her 40-year career she wrote short stories, poetry, prose, commentaries, critical essays and plays. In 1986, Cardinal-Schubert was admitted to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. She was the recipient of many awards, including: the Commemorative Medal of Canada in 1993; the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2005; an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Calgary in 2003; and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in Art from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in 2007.
“This is only the second high school in Calgary to be named after a woman. I am thrilled to recognize and honour the achievements and talents of a local woman, Joane Cardinal-Schubert,” says Amber Stewart, Trustee Wards 12 & 14.
Joane Cardinal-Schubert High School will have a capacity of 1,800 and is expected to open in September 2018 for students from the communities of Auburn Bay, Cranston, Copperfield, Douglasdale/Glen, Mahogany, McKenzie Lake, McKenzie Towne, New Brighton and Seton.
Visit our Building and Modernizing Schools webpage for more information on this school construction project.
