Community members from Nordegg are asking Wild Rose School Division (WRSD) to reinstate a program that would see a teacher be present in the community part-time to teach young children.

WRSD superintendent Brad Volkman says it’s a program that began about 10 years ago.

“They’re asking us to consider opening a school at Nordegg,” says Volkman. “Back in 2015-2017 school years, we attempted what we called a blended program.”

The blended program, he says, involved Clearwater County providing space in the upstairs portion of the Nordegg museum, in which a teacher would be available one day a week to teach young children.

When the program was active, Volkman says one full-time teacher employed at Lochearn Elementary School in Rocky Mountain House would travel to Nordegg to teach local children.

“We had one teacher working with three or four students that were in kindergarten to Grade one ages that were being homeschooled,” says Volkman “We just didn’t seem to gain any traction, so we ran it for those two years and then we discontinued it.”

He adds, the Division received a letter from some community members asking us to see if it could be considered again.

To get a gauge on its feasibility, Volkman says the Division will be contacting the County to determine what its goals and expectation for growth are in the community.

He adds, the Division will also be sending out a survey to determine the level of interest among residents.

If any program were to be reinstated, Volkman adds it would likely be for K-6 students, while older students would continue to be bussed into Rocky Mountain House.

“I would say most of the kids that are high school age are wanting to access the extensive programming, athletic teams, clubs, etcetera that we have at West Central High School,” says Volkman. “We certainly couldn’t meet those needs with a start-up school in Nordegg.”

Volkman, who announced his retirement from the role on July 31, 2025, said if any program were to be reinstated, it likely wouldn’t happen for this school year, or even the next as he says there’s a lot involved in trying to put it together.