The start to school is just around the corner and teachers and parents are getting ready for that first day!

Turtle Mountain School Division is looking forward to welcoming close to 60 news students to their classrooms.

“We have grown," shares Superintendent, Grant Wiesner. "Boissevain has 12 new students and Killarney 44 so that’s exciting to see those schools growing and getting new students.”

Wiesner attributes the growing numbers to a number of factors.  "A whole host of things; people moving into the community is just one.  We also have some students from the Ukraine coming and we're looking forward to having them in our schools."

A language barrier could be a challenge, however teaching and support staff are prepared to meet those classroom dynamics.

"In the past we've had a lot of international students in our schools so it's a challenge that our students have faced before.  Some of the students that come have a very good command of English, and some need some support, and so we just do what we can to help them learn the social language as well as the academic language."

Wiesner adds he's looking forward to a normal start to the school year!