EPSB to wind down Nellie McClung girls’ program by June 2028

The Edmonton Public School Board will phase out the Nellie McClung Girls’ Junior High program as enrolment has fallen to 13 students in Grades 8 and 9, with none registered in Grade 7. Current students can finish their studies if they remain in the program, which is scheduled to close by the end of June 2028.

Edmonton Journal has reported:

The Edmonton Public School Board plans to phase out the Nellie McClung Girls’ Junior High program by the end of June 2028, citing low enrolment. The program is based at Wîhkwêntôwin School, and its remaining students will have the option to complete their studies there. No students are registered in Grade 7, while 13 students are enrolled across Grades 8 and 9.

EPSB said the program’s enrolment had declined to a level that made it no longer feasible to continue. For several years, Wîhkwêntôwin School and the Nellie L. McClung Educational Society tried to increase interest through advertising and promotion, the board said in a statement to Postmedia on Wednesday.

The division began applying its low-enrolment model to the program in spring 2025, when it entered the first phase. It moved to the second phase this past spring. Nellie McClung is the only single-gender public junior high program for girls in EPSB.

The program began in 1995 at Wîhkwêntôwin School, then called Oliver School, with about 85 students in Grades 7 and 8. It expanded to Avonmore School in 1998 and Bannerman School in 2000, and enrolment reached a peak of more than 450 students in 2003. As numbers fell, the program was removed from Bannerman in 2015 and Avonmore in 2018.

Named for Nellie McClung, the prominent Canadian suffragist, author and politician, the program became known for its emphasis on girls’ leadership and empowerment, as well as its dress code and distinctive uniforms. Its educational focus included building confidence and leadership, increasing knowledge of women’s issues and contributions to society, and encouraging good citizenship.

Parents lobbied EPSB to create an all-girls option, arguing at the time that strong evidence showed girls performed better and developed higher self-esteem in single-gender programs. Six classrooms in an unused wing of the former elementary school were renovated and set aside for the initiative.

EPSB said students who choose to stay will be able to finish their studies before the program closes. The space currently used by Nellie McClung will be reassigned to other programming needs at Wîhkwêntôwin School.