Things to know Upper Halfway Elementary Junior School & area:
Upper Halfway School is a rural K–10 school located in Northern British Columbia in a picturesque valley near the forks of the Graham and Upper Halfway Rivers, approximately 133 km northwest of Fort St. John. Fort St John is located is 478 km northeast of Prince George, 1,237 km north of Vancouver and 214 km west of Grande Prairie, Alberta. Wonowon, a neighboring rural community on the Alaska Highway, offers basic services to the Upper Halfway community. For outdoor enthusiasts, the area offers a wide variety of accessible pristine outdoor seasonal opportunities.
Approximately 30 students are enrolled at Upper Halfway School, with all students being bussed from the Halfway River First Nations Reserve and surrounding Russian/German speaking communities. Many of our students are English Language Learners (ELL) as their primary language is not English (ESL) or is a non-standard dialect (ESD).
Upper Halfway School receives administrative assistance from SD60’s District Vice Principal. Onsite, the school employs three full-time teachers, with one teacher assuming the role of Head Teacher. The school also employs three Educational Assistants and one Aboriginal Student Support Worker. Upper Halfway School also receives support throughout the school year from SD60:
- Learning Services – Learning Assistance, English Language Learners (ELL), Deaf & Hard of Hearing, Speech-Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Counseling;
- Technology Services – Library, Wireless Writing Program (WWP), and Technology support;
- Aboriginal Services – Academic, Cultural and Social-Emotional;
- StrongStart Outreach program – for children ages 0 – 5 and their parents/caregivers.
Upper Halfway School has three multi-grade classrooms, two multi-purpose rooms, a wide variety of outdoor playground equipment, a large outdoor sports field, a school vegetable garden, a seasonal outdoor skating rink, and a natural seasonal snow packed sledding hill. The nearby Community Hall is used to supplement PE programs and host special events. And we have our brand new gymnasium at the school that had it’s grand opening in October 2024.
Upper Halfway school operates on a four-day schedule, Monday – Thursday. When Professional Development Days fall on a Friday, the school is closed in lieu the following Monday. SD60 offers two teacherages, 2 – 3 bedroom, near the school for teacher accommodation at reasonable rental rates: Staff and students at Upper Halfway School strive to create a safe, respectful and welcoming school and community. We encourage a positive attitude towards our school, community, peers and ourselves. At Upper Halfway School, we foster lifelong learning through hands-on inquiry based learning.
For contact information please see our Contact Us page.