Welcome and Principal's Message

To read this letter in Arabic, click here

لقراءة هذه الرسالة باللغة العربية ، انقر هنا

To read this letter in Punjabi, click here

ਇਸ ਚਿੱਠੀ ਨੂੰ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ 

To read this letter in Somali, click here

Si aad u akhrido warqadan oo Af, guji halkan

Welcome/Tatawaw to our Kirkness family! Here at Kirkness school we seek to empower all students to develop skills for character, academic success, resilience and leadership. We provide an engaging and inclusive learning environment where all students are provided with meaningful opportunities to grow into capable, connected and contributing members of our community.

Our school focuses on student growth in the area of literacy, numeracy, citizenship, and practical skills. Students are taught to think critically, be effective communicators, apply their knowledge to real life decisions, and be solution focused.

We work closely and value our relationship with our parents, guardians, School Council and community stakeholders to ensure we are leveraging every opportunity we can to create high quality, impactful learning experiences for our students.

I am proud to be serving the Kirkness community, and we are excited about the upcoming school year. If you have any further questions please feel free to connect with the office to book an appointment with us.

Sincerely,

Ms. Kristel Busby

Principal

Kirkness School      

Full in all planned classes for the 2024-2025 school year

For the 2024 - 2025 school year, Kirkness School is full in planned classes. A Kindergarten student who is a resident and lives in the school's attendance area may still register. We will now only accept resident students in Grades 1 to 6 whose parent(s)/legal guardian(s) have newly moved into the school’s attendance area for the regular program. A resident student of Edmonton Public Schools has at least one parent or legal guardian living in Edmonton who is not Roman Catholic. Non-resident students can enrol in another Division school with space in planned classes.

If you are registering for Kindergarten or are new to Edmonton Public Schools, you must register online.

For the 2025 - 2026 school year, Kirkness School is full in planned classes in Grade 1 in the regular program. We will now only accept resident students in Grade 1 whose parent(s)/legal guardian(s) have newly moved into the school’s attendance area for the regular program. A resident student of Edmonton Public Schools has at least one parent or legal guardian living in Edmonton who is not Roman Catholic. Non-resident students can enrol in another Division school with space in planned classes.

If you are registering for Kindergarten or are new to Edmonton Public Schools, you must register online.

About Kirkness

Kirkness School was opened in 1983. Like other neighbourhoods in this part of Edmonton, the name‌ honours a pioneer. James Kirkness, who came to Canada from Scotland in 1864 with the Hudson’s Bay Company. James Kirkness worked as a farm labourer for several years before being transferred to Fort Edmonton in 1871, and then Rocky Mountain House. He then returned to Edmonton two years later and became a homesteader in the river lots known as the Lower Settlement. It was then that he met and married Sarah Jane Steinhauer, daughter of Reverend Henry Bird Steinhauer, an Ojibwa Methodist minister and Jessie Joyful Erasmus, a Métis woman. Throughout his lifetime he continued to work on and off with the Hudson's Bay Company, as well as opening a coal mine in what is now Kinnaird Ravine. Through his dealings, he amassed a great deal of wealth which continued to grow past his death in 1911. The Kirkness family developed the western portion of the river lot in the Lower Settlement into what is now the Virginia Park subdivision. Many landmarks in Edmonton are named after the Kirkness pioneer family or are located on the river lot purchased in 1871.