School celebrates accessibility as centennial approaches

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/11/2020 (1958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Only a couple of years after the Spanish flu swept across the globe, Isaac Newton School opened on Aberdeen Avenue. Now, the junior high school is set to celebrate its centennial year amid yet another pandemic.

But, a pandemic will not be the only noteworthy aspect of the school’s 100th anniversary — it will be marked by an evolution of accessibility.

At the end of November, the construction of a giant ramp and open entrance along Aberdeen is expected to be completed. And, come early 2021 — 100 years after the school was built — Isaac Newton will celebrate the installation of its very first elevator.

“And that’s huge for us, for our community,” principal Mohammad Rezai said.

Grade 7 and 8 students who use wheelchairs attend Andrew Mynarski VC School, because Isaac Newton doesn’t have the infrastructure to accommodate their mobility requirements. However, that will change when the elevator is installed.

One wheelchair user currently attends Isaac Newton. The student longed to stay with his classmates, Rezai explained, instead of enrolling in a different school.

So, Isaac Newton purchased a stair-climber and turned the second level into the Grade 7 floor, so there were less steps to climb. And when the student advanced to Grade 8 in September, the Grade 8 floor was brought down to the second level.

With an elevator, students with different abilities will be able to enrol at the school.

Within a few months, Isaac Newton will also become the first school in the Winnipeg School Division to have a bidet.

The device, which is used to cleanse a person’s body after they use the toilet, will be installed in one of the school’s new universal washrooms. Having a bidet will provide an accessible washroom experience to individuals with mobility challenges, as well as to Muslim students who need to maintain cleansing routines, Rezai said.

“In a few short months, it will be one of the most accessible schools in the community,” he said. “So it really opens doors — literally — for everybody in the community and beyond.”

Rezai himself attended Isaac Newton 32 years ago, shortly after he immigrated to Canada from Iran.

Now in his third year as principal, Rezai is capitalizing on the school’s potential.

“I would like to have more students in the building for sure. And … with the accessibility and all the different programming that we offer, I’m hoping to be able to open the door for many more students in the building.”