The students at Three Lakes School could welcome classmates from other countries as early as this fall.

It’s an idea that would expose Middle Lake children to other cultures and new ideas - but it’s also aimed at maintaining programming at the school.

“We want to continue to provide those services and Middle Lake wants to have those services in Three Lakes School,” Horizon School Division education director Kevin Garinger said.

“So if we can try and establish a process whereby we can increase the student population we can have that happen there. If not, down the road there obviously are other decisions that have to be made.

“But right now these are the types of things that the board is excited about because it says that the community is really engaged in looking at doing something that’s going to impact their enrolment numbers, which is of course critical in terms of being able to provide that level of support.”

The Three Lakes student population fell to 77 in 2017 from 154 in 2012 and 187 in 2007.  Even an increase of 15 to 20 students would make a difference, Garinger said.

The idea of recruiting international students has been around for a while in Canada, Garinger said. He helped establish such a program while he was in Alberta, and the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools division has a significant number of international students, he said.

It’s been on the backburner in Horizon for the past three years as the division dealt with other major issues, but now it’s back at the forefront after the Three Lakes School Community Council did a considerable amount of work looking at it, Garinger said. He met last month with the group and Three Lakes principal Trevor Otsig.

“I think it would be a great opportunity not just for the kids coming over but for our own kids to be exposed to some different groups coming in. We’re a pretty isolated little area out here and you can learn a lot from other cultures,” Otsig said.

Ryan Schnee, chair of the School Community Council, said his family has lived in the community for six years and it’s been a good experience - and one worth sharing. His own family had an exchange student when he was growing up, he said.

“I’ve seen our kids included in the school. You walk into the school, it’s a clean, good environment for kids to learn in and when you have that kind of confidence in the education, starting at the division and particularly our local school, you look at it and say, this would be great for other kids from other places to be able to enjoy what my kids do here.”

Middle Lake, like other small communities, can be greatly affected by the gain or loss of a few families, Schnee said. Three Lakes has had years of high enrollment before and he expects they’ll return as young families come back to the area.

The Horizon board at its December meeting passed a motion of support to explore recruiting international students.

Crucially, recruitment is now affordable for Horizon, as the province now allows school divisions recruiting international students to keep more of the tuition fees those parents pay, Garinger said.

If all goes quickly, recruitment could start in the spring with students walking through the Three Lakes front doors - and perhaps other schools too - in the fall.

Horizon’s pitch to international parents would include having some of the smallest class sizes in the province, quality programming, and data that demonstrate its students are succeeding, he said.

The community itself is also a factor, he said.

“Three Lakes and the community of Middle Lake is just a beautiful and amazing community, like so many of the others in our geography.”