Overcrowding at school
Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 22/00) - Some Ecole St. Joseph students take classes in the gymnasium.
A science lab has been converted into a classroom and every bit of space, from hallways to storage rooms are used to accommodate students.
"We don't have one free classroom to take a class out. So if we're working with little groups of kids, we have to take them out to little rooms," she said.
Principal Flo Cameron said they're doing everything they can to meet the need.
Ecole St. Joseph is bursting at the seams with 659 students in a facility rated to hold 575. There are also more than 50 teachers employed at the school.
"Really, we're talking a population of 700 people in a building that's built, at best, for 575," said Yellowknife Catholic Schools superintendent Kern Von Hagen.
The school was built 20 years ago, designed to hold 250 students. Approximately 14 classrooms have been added on since then, but Cameron said enrolment has grown even faster.
The classroom crunch is becoming a major problem.
"We need some break-out space ... right now we're (taking kids out) in the hallways at times.
"When we have our speech specialist come once a week she goes into a little cubby, a little storage room down the hall.
"There's not a square-inch of extra space here."
The problem didn't surface all of a sudden but has been escalating every year, especially since the French Immersion program became popular.
Cameron said student academic achievement is not being adversely affected by the space crunch, but that's only because teachers are working to ensure that doesn't happen.
"Are programs suffering because of (overcrowding)? No. Are the teachers tired? Yes."
Von Hagen said the core area of Ecole St. Joseph, the gym, office area and bathroom facilities, cannot accommodate the school's present enrolment.
"There's no simple solution to this."
He said the school district would rather not expand the school because it's already one of the largest in the North, however, that hasn't been ruled out.
The superintendent said overcrowding at Ecole St. Joseph is one of the board's highest priorities. In January, suggestions will be sought from teachers, parents and politicians to determine the best solution for the space crunch.
