Chapman principal: ‘This school was a gift’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/06/2016 (3665 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Powered by an original Vulcan boiler and the efforts of many committed staff members, Chapman School (3707 Roblin Blvd.) has contributed to the Charleswood community for the last 102 years.

The small school’s enrolment will be at zero come June 30, which has prompted the Pembina Trails School Division to close Chapman’s doors for good. In September, Westgate Mennonite Collegiate will rent the space for one year, after which superintendent Ted Fransen says there are no definitive plans for it.

“All 31 families with children attending Chapman informed the board that they would like to have their children attend Royal School in September and they asked the board for some support to help that happen,” Fransen said. “They have the capacity, and more, to take on the students.”

Former Chapman students will be joined at Royal by a significant number of Chapman teachers and staff, including principal Lorraine de Monye, who has been appointed to principal of Royal School.

“There are more than enough jobs, our enrolment is increasing,” Fransen said. “Those with permanent contracts will be assigned to other schools in the division.”

Fransen added that although the school’s original wing was completed in 1943, with an additional wing added in 1975, the building is still in functional shape and will from this point on be maintained by Westgate.

While it is an older and smaller school, it has not gone unnoticed by the division and has been maintained and renovated as needed, de Moyne said.

“This building is constantly being upgraded,” she said. “We’ve made sure it’s a secure, safe building… we need to make sure it’s an attractive and happy place for children.”

While their IT equipment and camera systems are up to date, there are plenty of stories to find in the halls of Chapman that harken back to its early years.

“It’s sort of blending the old with the new,” she said, pointing out a recovery room that was once a nurse’s office, still equipped with the original mirror.

Caretaker Tom Comberbach has worked at the school for nine years and has become familiar with one of the building’s relics, the Vulcan boiler in the basement.

“It’s going to be here longer than the building, I’m told,” he said. “When the inspectors come in from the city, they’re all totally impressed like, ‘Oh! That’s a Vulcan! Oh wow, these were amazing, this thing’s never going anywhere, this is made of real steel!’”

On a foundation of history, Chapman’s students have been exposed to a high standard of learning, de Monye said. This past year the students learned coding in computer class, grew vegetables in the community room and took care of live composting bins.

She said the two years she’s been there have been an excellent experience.

“This has been a precious place to work,” she said. “Beautiful children, wonderful families to work with, a staff that’s just outstanding that has really embraced the environment of a small school and have gone over and beyond what’s expected of them… you become a family in a small school like this.”

“Whenever a school closes it’s a loss for the community no matter what,” Fransen said. “It’s a reality of demographic changes. There are smaller families, fewer families with children in Charleswood and lots of schools in Charleswood have declining enrolment, and Chapman’s just declined too much.”

The school hosted a celebration on June 17 to honour over a century of service to the community.