Francophone division opens new school

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This article was published 03/07/2002 (8742 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE first francophone school west of the Red River will open its doors in St. James this fall.

To be called Ecole St. James, until a parents’ committee is set up this fall and a permanent name can be chosen, the school at 367-B Hampton St., will welcome its first Kindergarten to Grade 2 students when it kicks off the school year on Aug. 28.

The Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine (DSFM) is renting the space from the St. James-Assiniboia School Division on a three-year lease that begins in September, according to Leo Robert, superintendent of the DSFM.

While Ecole St. James will open as a K-to-2 school, each fall over the following two years, another grade will be added, bringing it to K-to-4 in three years. Eventually, it will become a K-to-8 school with about 250 students, and its graduates will be bused to College Louis-Riel in St. Boniface to complete their education in French.

“This school will be in place for years to come, to provide francophone education to parents in the area,” says Robert. “Everybody at the division is quite excited about the new project.”

Ecole St. James will open with six classrooms, under the direction of principal Patricia Thibodeau, formerly a resource teacher at Ecole Precieux-Sang in St. Boniface.

DSFM was founded in 1994 and currently governs five francophone schools in Winnipeg and rural areas. The city schools are located in St. Boniface and St. Vital, and include: Ecole Precieux-Sang; Ecole Tache; Ecole Lacerte; Ecole Christine Lesperance — which opened in January 2002 in South St. Vital to accommodate the students who once attended Ecole Lavallee; and College Louis-Riel. Ecole St. James will be its sixth city school.

DSFM has about 2,500 students in Winnipeg, or about half of their student population. They currently bus from 80 to 85 per cent of city students, says Robert. At the end of June, about 25 students were registered to attend Ecole St. James this fall.

This year, some St. James area students were bused to Tache and Precieux-Sang, he says. Students at the new St. James school will come from Tache, St. James-Assiniboia School Division schools and new registrations. A number of the new students reside near the military bases, and include children of francophone members of the air force, says Robert.

Ecole St. James was a year in the making, says Robert. Finding a location was the biggest challenge. The St. James location was chosen based on the distribution of francophones as indicated in the 1996 census.

The DSFM is awaiting the results of the last census, but Robert says they have no plans for other schools at this time.

While immersion schools teach French as a second language, DSFM schools teach French as a first language, says Robert. He adds that their schools have a legal responsibility to incorporate cultural aspects into their lessons as well.

Also, because the DSFM’s Winnipeg students are from all over the city, the division does not collect education taxes. The parents of their students pay taxes to their resident school division and the education levy is transferred to the DSFM. Next year’s DSFM budget will be $32 million, including three million dollars from the federal government.

The election of school trustees is also completed in a different way. In the DSFM, parents vote for regional representatives (two per school). Then, their regional representatives elect the board members (school trustees). But this process is currently being changed, says Robert. Soon parents will elect the board members directly.

According to Thibodeau, the new school’s staff includes three teachers, a phys ed/music specialist and educational assistants.

“We are ready to go,” says Thibodeau. “We are just waiting for some furnishings and other details. We are starting small, but plan to grow.”

Thibodeau invites parents who would like to register their students at Ecole St. James to leave a message at the school by calling 885-8000. She will return their calls and arrange to meet with parents and arrange to give them a tour of the school.

PHOTO LINDA VERMETTE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Patricia Thibodeau is principal of the new Ecole St. James, a francophone school set to open in the fall.