New construction for Yk schools
Building and renovations right on track for fall classes

Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 25/99) - Students of Ecole Allain St. Cyr will have a new school come next fall.

Yellowknife district No. 1 school board trustees and St. Cyr staff went on a tour of the new facility, June 12, to take a peek at the construction in progress. The brand-new $3.9 million complex, located across from William McDonald school on Taylor Road, will have an enrolment of approximately 70 students for the upcoming school year, with space for up to 150 students.

According to the school's principal, Julie Bochard, the new school couldn't have come at a better time.

"The portables we were using are not really suitable any more," Bochard said. "They are getting old and a little too small."

The portable trailer units the french first language students have been using are located by J.H. Sissons school. The new Heritage Canada funded premises promises to offer are more conductive environment for learning according to school board district No. 1 trustee, Bob Paterson.

"I think it is a place children will want to come to learn in," Paterson said. "It is open and bright and quite functional for the teaching staff. Everyone, from the architect, builders, parents, teachers and students had input into building it."

The new facility is key-shaped in appearance with a wide assortment of windows to provide ample lighting.

According to architect Kayhan Nadji, who designed the new facility, students at Ecole Allain St. Cyr will be experiencing state-of-the-art technological advances first-hand.

"The temperature in the building will be regulated by in-floor heating," Nadji said. "But the real innovation is the ventilation system. There is no noise at all. This is the first time that this system has been used in Canada."

The school will also house a day-care centre for french language parents and a kitchen that will provide hot meals for students.

"I'm just thrilled that we have such a state of the art building for the students," school board trustee, Judith Knapp said. "It really addresses education needs. All the lighting and windows will really help in the winter. It is really well-designed for teaching and learning."

Sir John renovations

While Ecole Allain St. Cyr students await their new school, Sir John Franklin high school students and staff are waiting for renovations to their school to be complete.

Renovations are expected to be completed for the 2000/2001 school year. Some of the new features to the school will be the addition of a two-storey library, a fitness gym, an art display gallery, gymnasium viewing area, an amphitheatre lecture hall, and numerous break-out zones, where students will have pleasant areas to gather to work in groups or individually.

"It's just so exciting," said school principal, Mieka Cameron. "A year ago, we were still planning it and now we're getting an idea of what it will look like. We had students from all grades, particullarly from grades 9 and 12 involved in the planning stage, so everyone had a say in how the renovations should be made."

The new renovations, most markedly pronounced in the school's CTS wing, offer students a brighter, more open facility that planners hope will provide students with a friendlier and more productive learning environment.

"This will be a school for the next century," Cameron said. "We want to get away from the traditional hours and old ways of educating students. The break-out spaces will offer greater computer access (125 new computers). Students will have the opportunity to learn in groups or individually. It will all be about pacing themselves."

For Sir John student Jarrod Klinger, who will be graduating by the time the renovations are completed, the changes are welcome.

"It's nicer than it was," Klinger said. "There's lots of windows and it's exciting to come see the changes. It will be nice to see the finished product before we get out into the real world."