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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Vandals struck St. Joseph School over the long weekend, damaging one window on the building's south side and pushing out 28 windows from the school's new $8,000 greenhouse.

St. Joseph School principal Gillian Dawe-Taylor surveys the damage to her school's new $8,000 greenhouse, which was damaged over the Labour Day long weekend by vandals. - Jesse Winter/NNSL photo

The greenhouse, which only finished construction two weeks ago, will house a new program teaching students about nutrition and food supply in the North. None of the Plexiglass windows were broken, but they will have to be re-assembled. St. Joseph principal Gillian Dawe-Taylor said that, while the vandalism is disappointing, it is not expected to hamper the start of the greenhouse's use, which is slated for April.

"There was some vandalism over the weekend. Now I'm just trying to see if we can get some information. We'll be putting it out on the school's Facebook page, and hoping someone from the community comes forward," Dawe-Taylor said.

Police were notified Tuesday afternoon of the damage. RCMP Staff Sgt. Brad Kaeding said there are suspects and the investigation is ongoing.

"I am really hoping that the community who live around here, and can clearly see that structure, might be able to come up with some information. Facebook seems to be a very good tool for that," Dawe-Taylor said.

According to her, vandalism at the school is more frequent during the summer and fall months, and has been increasing in recent years as more developments go up around the school.

"When the school was first built, there was nothing around us, but now it's sort of sheltered in certain areas," she said.

In 2006, the school was badly damaged in a deliberately set fire when four portable classrooms and one mini-gym were destroyed.

The cost to repair last weekend's damage isn't yet known, but Dawe-Taylor said it will be mostly labour to rebuild the greenhouse.

"It was just constructed. We didn't even have time to put the sealant in. My husband and I and a couple volunteers put it up just before school started. Now I'll have to see how we're going to fix it. There's going to be a fence that will go up around it, so we might do that first and then repair it," she said.

She said she has absolute faith that none of her students were involved in the vandalism.

"Inside our school we have very little vandalism because the kids are proud of our school. What we find is that it's usually older people who hang around at night and are up to no good, either on the skateboard park or behind the school. I'd be very surprised if it was our students," she said.

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