Parenthése |

La voix des parents de Colombie-Britannique

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Two Brand New Schools!

Students of the francophone schools in Campbell River and Comox, on Vancouver Island, began the 2011-2012 school year in brand
new accommodations. What great news! Inaugurations for the new schools, Mer et Montagne and Au Coeur de Ile took place on
October 3 and 11 respectively. Both CSF building projects were the latest announced by the Ministry of Education to date.

Comox - Bright, Modern Facility

e On October 1, 2011, after slightly more than a year of
construction, the students of Comox Valley's Coeur-

de-I'ile school finally moved into their new school.
The regional school welcomes students from kindergarten to
Grade 12. This is also. a community school, home to the AFVC
(Association francophone de la vallée de Comox), a com-
munity library, a daycare and a preschool. With its two wings,
one each for primary and secondary classes, its huge glassed-
in gymnasium with raised stage and built-in bleachers, well-
equipped science, robotics, and family economics labs, and
green-house, to name only a few of its features, Coeur-de-l’ile
is the pride of the francophone community! The school, built

using advanced technology, with a green roof, geothermal heating system, and natural lighting, meets the Gold standard for
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and satisfies the criteria for sustainable development.

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Campbell River — Friendly and Functional

Here’s a glimpse of the first day of school at the new Mer-
ef-montagne school. As a parent who used to be a student in
the programme-cadre in the early 1980s in Campbell River, |
have watched the program develop from portables attached
to a school annex, fo two unused classrooms in one of the old-
est buildings in town. From there, the CSF was formed and was
able to secure a separate building for our students. For the last
six years, Our students have been pursuing their studies with a
dynamic and dedicated staff in a building that leaked and was
without a functioning furnace.

We have dutifully worked around a kitchen without a usable
sink. Given the education our children were receiving, these
issues were scarcely tolerable. For the last four years, we have
been promised a new building to meet the needs of our students

on a permanent basis. The new school is even better than expected! It can accommodate the doubling of our student popu-
lation which will no doubt happen more quickly given the beautiful space and facilities we now offer. October 2011 marks the
culmination of several decades’ efforts. Now our children can proudly look at their new school and realize that as francophones
they deserve their own school! that facilitates modern methods of education in a safe and healthy environment. As parents we
are glad to see that, finally, we can focus on fostering our children’s francophone identity rather than working around problems

that we faced in our old leased space.