Students displaced, classes relocated after ceiling collapses at Calgary elementary school

All 738 students at Brentwood School will not be returning to their regular classrooms this year after parts of a ceiling collapsed in a hallway last week.

In a post to its website on May 8, the Calgary Board of Education said there was a partial detachment of a suspended ceiling in one of the school's corridors. 

The incident occurred close to the end of the day, the CBE said, and no students were in the hallway.

Classes were cancelled the following day and students of the northwest elementary school have now been moved to other schools for the remainder of the academic year.

"We have learned that the ceiling will require long-term repair work running for multiple months, and students must be relocated for the remainder of the school year," read the news release.  

"To best accommodate students, we have worked with neighbouring schools to prepare a plan to allow in-person learning with their regular teachers."

Five schools in the northwest have received the relocated students and they resumed classes on Monday. They will act as a school within a school, the CBE said, and transportation arrangements have been coordinated with Brentwood School remaining as a hub this week.

"The 'school within a school' model helps make the transition easier by keeping students together with their teachers and allowing them to maintain relationships with their peers," said the release. 

"We use this process when factors outside our control affect access to a school building."

Starting May 23, students who take the bus to school will be transported directly from their congregated bus stop to their new host school.