Yellowknife (Jan 19/07) - After 10 years of fighting for more space for their children, parents at Ecole Allain St. Cyr are seeing the fruits of their labour.

PSAV Architects Ltd. and the Commission Scolaire Francophone de Division presented their plans for the $3.3 million expansion of the school to parents and students Tuesday night.

Amber O'Reilly, a Grade 8 student at Ecole Allain St. Cyr, got a sneak peek at what her school might look like next September. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

The presentation included a three-dimensional model of the school with a mock-up of the first and second phase of the expansion.

Phase I will add a classroom, a new science lab, a library, more washrooms, and additional administrative area for the staff.

"This is a beginning," said Yvonne Careen, president of the Association des Parents Ayants Droits de Yellowknife.

The association took the territorial government to court in 2004 for better conditions for their children's school.

The expansion is just part of what the parents were looking for.

"I'll keep at this until I walk into the gym and shoot a basket," she said.

Plans for a gym, more classrooms, and a larger reception area are in the works for phase II of the expansion project.

Students at the school now take a bus to the Multiplex for gym activities.

Amber O'Reilly, a 13-year-old student at the school, said having to take the bus cuts their gym class short.

O'Reilly said she hopes the expansion will bring more students to the school.

"Even though we're a small school, we still have school spirit," she said.

Having had such an integral role in making the project a reality, parents raised a few concerns during the meeting on aspects of the plans.

Some concerns included layout of the science lab, maintenance of greenery, and effects the construction process will have on the day care, which will continue to operate throughout the summer, when the construction is scheduled to happen.

"You can tell by the parents' questions, they're really involved in how they think things should be," said Gerard Lavigne, general director of the Commission Scolaire Francophone de Division.

Lavigne said parents often show a strong interest in what's going on at the school, as it plays a central role in Yellowknife's francophone community.

"It includes so many people, as so many families are involved," said Lavigne.

Wayne Nesbitt, who is overseeing the project for Public Works and Services with the GNWT, said that although he doesn't expect any major delays in construction, he doubts the project can be finished before September.

Construction is set to begin on the school in March.