DEBLOIS, P.E.I. - Carrie-Ann Gallant marvels at the sense of community that exists at École Pierre-Chiasson and Centre acadien de Prince-Ouest in Deblois.
A trustee on the province’s French Language School Board, Gallant attended a recent celebration marking the 10th anniversary of the official opening of the school and community centre.”
“Here, it’s almost like it is a full community – it’s a school, a community centre; they all know each other,” she said.
She likes that daycare children and students from kindergarten to Grade 12 are under one roof and can interact with each other.
“It’s like a family. My son calls it ‘my school,’ ” she said.
There was a lot of reminiscing during the celebration.
Eileen Chiasson-Pendergast was principal when the new school opened in January 2007, and for four-and-a-half years prior to that in the mobiles that comprised the first French school in the community.
She said while education was moving along at a “nice, nice clip” in the old building, the new facility offers more comforts.
“Some of the students were thrilled there were fountains here and, of course, the gym was a big drawing card,” she recalls.
“It is a place for community gatherings, and it’s great to have.”
Jaylynn Shields and T.J. Gallant started Grade 1 in the old mobiles. They recall pulling on oversized construction helmets to go on a tour of what was soon to become their new school and being uneasy and excited about moving into something so big.
“I was nervous. It was a big change,” said T.J.
He said he likes the small classes as that allows for more individual help, and Shields likes that she knows all the staff and students in the school.
While they moved across the road after Christmas that first year of school, it wasn’t until the following November, when they were in Grade 2 the official opening celebrations took place.
Ghislain Bernard started his teaching career as the school’s first physical education teacher in 2005. He’s now the principal.
“It was the shock of my life, to be honest,” he said, noting he arrived to find a box of skipping ropes, a bag of soccer balls and about a half a dozen cones. And no gymnasium.
He said they improvised and played a lot of rugby in the snow with soccer balls.
“All of a sudden we had the space to offer programming,” he said in describing what the move to the new building meant.
“There is a sense of community in the sense that we can’t do what we do without the community centre,” he said in describing the importance of having a school and community centre under one roof.
Bernard said he is pleased the school has been able to maintain 60-70 students a year for the past decade within a community whose numbers are decreasing dramatically.
Amy Blanchard Graham’s oldest child start at the old French school the year it opened and was part of the school’s first graduating class in the new building. Her children are through secondary school now, but she remains involved as president of the Conseil Rév.S.-É.-Perrey inc., the centre’s cultural component.
The added space, she said, has given them “a chance to do great things.”
For Bernard, what he regards as the biggest success is when he is out in the community and hears students from the school speaking comfortably in French.
“I think that’s a gift to the community. I think that’s an asset.”