With some electrical and mechanical issues starting to pop up, St. Patrick's Community School in Red Deer is getting ready for an upgrade.

But first, they went to their school community and held a planning session at the end of January, to get their thoughts on the modern learning needs of their students.

Supervisor of Support Services for Red Deer Catholic Schools Ken Jaeger says they were pleased that the feedback they gathered was similar to the plans they had in mind for the school.

“Some of the things that we heard a lot of, was being able to have open and welcoming space when we enter the building, that was a common theme from students. We need spaces that we can start our learning and then we can break away and find some smaller areas and smaller groups that we can do group work and learn on our own.”

Jaeger says the school is almost 40 years old, and is ready for an upgrade.

“The other piece that’s been a major factor in the need for modernization, is the learning spaces have evolved over the last 40 years. So the current learning spaces are really not meeting the needs of our learners at the present time.”

Approximately $13 million in provincial funding has already been approved in funding for the school, with a part of it being dedicated to solar technology for the future renovated school.

They hope to start doing some work around July 1st and should take about 18 months.