ROSTHERN — RJC High School in Rosthern is launching a $10 million RENEW Campaign to renovate and modernize its facilities.
Roughly 60 years ago, then-president Elmer Richert encouraged the RJC community to join him in a vision to build a new school and dormitory. The bar was set at $1 million, a huge sum for that day. Today, president Ryan Wood is again inviting the RJC family and community to join him and the board in a present-day vision to build on the legacy of yesterday.
RJC High School is currently in a stable position in its history, Wood said, with enrollment nearly double that of six years ago. This school year, the expansion to include a grade nine cohort has added 20 students, with approximately half of them residing in the dorms. Therefore, investing in the renewal of the facilities is a sensible decision, not only for the comfort and safety of current students, but also in anticipation of a future with a growing student body.
Enrollment in 2019 was the lowest ever, at 65 students, and had been slowly declining for 20 years, according to Wood.
“We knew that we couldn’t lose another 20 students,” he said. Tuition fees were cut in half. The school rebranded and changed its name from Rosthern Junior College to RJC High School, and the leadership chose to extend a welcome to all who wanted to be a part of the community. In September 2023, the school welcomed 104 students, the largest student population in over 15 years.
As a historical high school, RJC receives some per-student funding from the provincial government, but unlike public schools, it is responsible for all capital costs. Wood shared that RJC has applied to the Government of Saskatchewan for a special grant, which, if approved, could see funding for up to 20 per cent of the approved portions of its Renew project. However, to date, there has been no word from the government regarding the application.
The improvements and upgrades are necessary, and in the case of the dining hall roof, urgent, and can not be pushed to the sidelines. Some repairs and upgrades have already been carried out due to a sudden and emergent need, the boiler replacement being one such example, which required borrowing necessary funds. Among those repairs already completed are replacing the roof of the gymnasium and chapel, and the installation of a new boiler in 2023, replacing the dormitory roof in 2024, and the asbestos remediation in 2025. In President and CEO Ryan Wood’s words, the crucial need to replace the gymnasium roof and the boiler “robbed RJC of the opportunity to fundraise and reach out to its support network.” Barring any further emergencies, Wood stated that the next phases of the Renew Campaign will be completed as funds become available through fundraising efforts.
The roof over the dining hall and the Campus Life Centre is next on the agenda. Eventually, Alex Tiessen, Director of Admissions & Development, shared that the entire building envelope will be replaced, but first things first. On warm winter days, when the snow is melting, the dining hall roof leaks and small rivulets of water trickle down the windows, making that roof the next priority.
The dormitories, built in the 1960s when the dangers of asbestos were not well understood, contained asbestos, primarily in the ceilings. Current knowledge suggests that undisturbed asbestos is unlikely to pose health risks; however, renovations cannot be performed without disturbance. Therefore, in 2025, RJC initiated an asbestos remediation in the hallways and dorm rooms to facilitate safe renovations.
Currently, upgrades to the interior of the dormitories are being completed, which include replacing the flooring, updating the countertops, upgrading the lighting to be more energy-efficient and adding dimmers to allow students to reduce glare from the lights in their rooms, and improvements to the common areas. These improvements are intended to enhance the aesthetics of the rooms that students call home for ten months each year. Future work in the dormitories will include a complete renovation of the six bathrooms.
“We can definitely see the need for the project in the day-to-day of the school,” noted Thiessen. The building is the students’ home. The school is good, and the students are thriving. The Renew Campaign is an ask for assistance from the greater community to help keep the building a clean, secure, safe space, and a great home in which students can continue to grow.
The school is building for the future as it continues to welcome students from further and further afield. Having the dormitory, Wood said, allows it to extend the invitation to any student anywhere in the world to come and experience life at RJC. RJC has welcomed students from almost every continent and Canadian province, including recent Canadians from diverse cultures. “That [cultural diversity] is exciting for our town, our community, our province, and for us,” said Wood.
Where you invest shows where your priorities lie, agreed Wood and Tiessen. Investing in the dorms, in the rooms, in the dining hall, and in the spaces the students inhabit demonstrates an investment in the students who come and learn there, and who also help others to learn. The investments already made and those yet to be will not necessarily be visible to those outside the space, and that is not the point. The priority of the investment is students’ well-being.
The official launch will be held at RJC on March 15 at 4:30 p.m. and will be live-streamed on the school’s website rjc.sk.ca/renewlaunch.
