Yellowknife (Jan 05/07) - A satisfactory atmosphere exists at St. Patrick high school, according to a review conducted at the school.

St. Pat's principal Johnnie Bowden was present at the Dec. 20 school board meeting to present the results of the 2006 school review.

The exercise consisted of questionnaires sent out to the school's students, staff and parents. With 1 being the highest rating, and 4 the lowest, the survey didn't produce any results going below 2.5. The questionnaires delved into areas such as general satisfaction of the students, satisfaction with correspondence at home, and appreciation of individual help.

Despite the positive results, Bowden was hoping for more constructive criticism.

"The intent was not to have a glowing report at the end of it," he said. "We don't have time to pat ourselves on the back."

One area to work on, according to Bowden, was student dissatisfaction in getting homework back on time.

Enrolment down in Catholic schools

Ecole St. Joseph's school has lost 65 students after the fire last August. Although St. Patrick high school and Weledeh have each gained a handful of students, there will be an overall decline in the number of students enroled with Yellowknife Catholic schools. Since the GNWT uses the enrolment count for September of each year to allocate funding, this may lead to a decrease in funding for Yellowknife Catholic schools.

Catholic school board reports surplus

The school board reported a surplus of $106,078 for the last fiscal year, which ended in November 2006.

The school board reported a general trend of being under-budget for the basic student, while spending more than budgeted on students with special needs.

School board trustee Brian Nagel reported that this is typical, as students with special needs require the hiring of additional staff.