After relocating, new school opened its doors in 2011
By Mark Schadenberg
My
children really love their school.
Maeghan
is preparing to enter Grade 4, while Spencer will be in Grade 1 after
the Labour Day long weekend. Their school – like all elementary
learning institutions – provides a checklist of items required to
start off the school year on the right foot (feet / pied). The list doesn't
include new indoor shoes, but also does suggest paper, erasers, pencils, and
pencils with erasers on the end. Any new shoes for indoors are a
great idea, and so are safety scissors, but don't run with scissors.
My
kids – as I'm sure you've determined already – go to an all-day
all-French school and have become fully bilingual. Maeghan can read
as proficiently in English as in French.
Ecole
Sainte Marguerite Bourgeoys (ESMB) existed 35 years ago in Woodstock
when I was in elementary school, but I attended the old St. Mary's
grade school on Oxford Street, which also included ESMB on most of
the second floor. That's before St. Mary's elementary evolved into St.
Mary's secondary, which is now on Juliana Drive.
ESMB
would later relocate to the former St Joseph's school building on
Huron Street, but in 2011 shifted to its current location at the east
end of Devonshire (700 rue Bristol is actual address) and is now a
K-12 school all on under one roof, but the high school campus is
known as Notre Dame. Of note, Notre Dame is for students in Grades 7
– 12.
I
must correct myself here. ESMB is not under one roof as due to its
successes in education the school has attracted an abundance of
students to the point where its bursting at the seams with a large
porta-pack (five classrooms) installed as we speak to go along with the
five portables already on site. The arrival of the new unattached
'addition' also required that a large set of playground equipment had
to be moved (see lower picture).
If
you live in Woodstock or not, you may be surprised to learn that ESMB
last year had five JK / SK classes and obviously half of them now
move up to Grade 1. I haven't seen the roster of teachers, classroom
assignments, or calculation of class sizes, or a breakdown of split
classes, but Marguerite Bourgeoys continues to be successful, or
possibly too successful in welcoming in new students from every corner of Oxford County.
Woodstock
does have a separate board French Immersion school (Holy Family on Oxford Street),
which is the same building I attended many decades ago (1971-80) in English-only and
a public board French Immersion program at Roch Carrier (the former
Hillcrest school).
I
believe it's a great education to acquire knowledge in both official
languages. I can see the obvious importance as my wife Nicole is fully
bilingual.
It's
a learning experience 'pour moi aussi' as my extent of French
understanding was a thousand (plus) words, but not comprehension of
sentences, tenses, gender and contexts. In other words, just because you know
the words for colours, numbers, animals, body parts, and foods, doesn't mean you
know the language.
I
applaud Nicole Plante-Cooper (pictured) and her enthusiasm and team-leading
skills. Who is she? Nicole Plante-Cooper (Email:
plannico@cscprovidence.ca)
is the long-time principal of ESMB. Her school is a dynamic force in
academics of reading, writing, and arithmetic – and all in French.
ESMB
is not a member of the Thames Valley public board or the London &
District separate board. ESMB is under the 'parapluie' of the
Providence board based in Windsor (www.cscprovidence.ca) with schools scattered in communities including London, Chatham, Owen
Sound, Belle River, Tecumseh, Pain Court, and Sarnia.
The
unique elements of the school include wide-varying extra-curricular
opportunities such as baton lessons (majorettes), elementary
wrestling team, dragonboat racing, improv acting, and a very
successful hockey academy.
The
school also has a pre-school, so your child could attend the Bristol
'structure de bâtiment' from a very early age until 17.
I
should note that Google translate has been consulted in this writing,
and I do admit to being not 100 percent sure on the correct usage of
the word 'bâtiment'.
QUESTIONS
I'm
not sure exactly how provincial and municipal funding works for the
various school boards, and all the percentages, and proven population
growth areas and declining neighbourhoods, but with 10 portable
classrooms, will ESMB soon receive a permanent addition to the
4-year-old school?
With
residential growth around the new hospital (Champlain and Frontenac
neighbourhood, and Alberta and Southwood area) I would add Southside
School (English-only school at Parkinson and Albert streets) to the list of learning
institutions requiring permanent additions as they also have a
porta-pack.
Woodstock
has had several schools closed or re-purposed, including the ESMB on
Huron Street which likely could have been kept open as perhaps a
Kindergarten – Grade 3 school.
Among
the Woodstock elementary schools to close in the past two decades
include Princess, Victoria, Chapel, Broadway, Hillcrest (now Roch Carrier), St. Rita's,
St. Joseph's, St. Mary's (Now Holy Family French immersion), and
Tollgate (later French Immersion; now at Hillcrest as Roch Carrier).
At
ESMB, the increase in student base translates into a smaller
schoolyard, and likely less gymnasium and library time as more classes
must share resources. The cost of leasing and maintaining portables
could have been converted into architectural drawings for an
addition.
Last year, my daughter was in a detached portable with no washroom, so she had to get a 'key' to enter school for such breaks. Not convenient.
Congratulations though to ESMB as the school does welcome non-French speaking students and
possesses a terrific teaching plan to create bilingual Canadians.
LINKS:
Previous Woodstock Sentinel-Review
stories:
2014
2012
2011
2009
Three options in Woodstock for your children
to earn a bilingual education
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
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