Christ the Redeemer School Division took time Friday Sept. 22, to say thank you to its staff and community partners.

The Division held an appreciation breakfast inviting employees, community partners, people from the town and local media to gather in fellowship.

Scott Morrison, Superintendent at Christ The Redeemer, says its important they connect with everyone that supports CTR.

"In a small town like Okotoks I think it's really important we know the people we are working with on a day to day basis, and that's the best way to inspire the kind of cooperation we want in the community. We've also found the Town, the M.D., the local media and businesses to be great partners and great supporters of our division, so this is a way to say thank you."

At the breakfast we had a chance to catch up with Morrison, and ask about how the first month of school has gone for the division.

"It's been superb, we've had steady growth which is always good. About 2% in Okotoks, closer to 5% in High River, and around the division our traditional schools are up by about 3% overall. We've had good growth but it's not so demanding that we've had a space crunch. We feel like there's been steady growth but it's growth that we can handle, that's a good thing for us because we had so many years of rapid growth and facility concerns and challenges."

Morrison shares this year the Division is focused on expanding faith and literacy initiatives, particularly for English as a second language.

"Increasingly in Alberta we're serving more and more English language learners everyday, so we want to make sure our teachers are equipped to meet those student's needs. Those new Canadians coming to our schools from other nations are fragile kids, they need our support and attention. Meeting their needs in the classroom is a real focus for Christ the Redeemer this year."