The small rural hamlet of Indus’ one and only local school has a big milestone to celebrate this week.
Indus School is inviting community members to their 70th reunion, which is taking place on April 28 from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 7 Indus Ct.
The much-anticipated reunion promises an afternoon of events that will highlight and celebrate the school’s seven decades of history.
Built in 1952, Indus School has changed a lot over the years, according to assistant principal Liz Kane, and that growth will be reflected throughout the event this Friday.
“We look very different than we did when we were first opened,” she said.
Kane said Indus School wants to use the reunion as an opportunity to showcase the students' efforts and commemorate the school and those within the hamlet community.
“We wanted to celebrate our existence and everything that we do, and our community and our families this year,” she said.
Kane said the school has reached out to alumni and current staff and students, as well as different members in southeast Rocky View County to come out and enjoy the reunion.
There are 197 students enrolled at the school this year, and each class is taking on an important role to make the reunion special.
“Every class is creating something to showcase,” Kane said. “From interviewing current staff members, to creating a rock garden with rocks that are meaningful.”
The impending reunion has excited the school community enough that Kane said current students have been stopping in the hallway to glance at the photos up on the walls.
“It’s actually been amazing,” she said. “We’ve caught a lot of kids stopping at various pictures because they’ve seen siblings, or parents, or former teachers in these pictures on our walls.”
The assistant principal said the response from the community in the lead-up to the planned reunion has been positive.
“As soon as it was posted, we had people [reach out] who are interested in coming,” Kane said. “But also, just out in the community, people have been chatting.
“When I’ve talked to different colleagues that work in different schools, a lot of them have asked me about the event, because they’ve heard from a friend from a friend that we’re having this event.”
Although the school did not ask for confirmed responses to the reunion, Kane believes the turnout will be great.
“I think it will be pretty busy and a lot of our students are excited to come as well, and to celebrate us,” she said.
Though she was a bit nervous about the scale of the event when planning for it first started earlier this school year, Kane noted the Indus School staff and community quickly came together to make it happen.
“Many hands makes light work, and some of those hands have been doing a lot of the heavy work,” she said.
Visitors will have the opportunity to go on student-led tours of the building, view a slideshow of old photos in the gymnasium, eat refreshments and treats made by community members, and gaze at photos on the wall of the events that have taken place in Indus School’s hallways and classrooms throughout the last 70 years.
