After three years of planning and construction, the newly renovated and expanded École Saint-Joachim has officially been home to students and staff for six months, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The addition is close to $27 million project subsidized by the provincial and school division and everybody and it's been happening for the past 3 years,” explains Principal Karine Pilotte.
The long-anticipated upgrade opened its doors in December, adding 16 new classrooms and a wide range of specialized spaces, including a gym, training room, science lab, industrial arts shop, STEM lab, and a home economics room.
“This is a new space for grade 5 to 12. Grade 5 to 8 on the first floor, and high school on second floor, so they have their own space,” says Pilotte.
Having joined the school just two years ago, Pilotte was there to see the final stages of the project come together.
“This is my second year, so I've seen the last stretch of the construction, living in dust and everything and then the opening and the using of this new space. “
While settling in came with a few learning curves, Pilotte says the transition has brought many positive changes, especially for high school students who, for the first time, have their own dedicated area, complete with lockers and indoor hallways.
“This is something that we don't even realize how important it is. When you're in a portable classroom, you don't have that and you think it's normal, but all the novelty that came with the move, like in their new spaces, they had to kind of learn how to live with each other and even crossing in the hallways.”
She notes that the new environment has fostered stronger connections among students.
“Grade 9, 10, 11, and 12 getting to know each other in a different way that they didn't before. So that made it really special.”
Before the expansion, both students and staff endured some tough conditions, especially in winter months.
“They were all outside, in the backyard, so even the wintertime, they had to go outside in the cold. They actually had to carry their backpack and their winter jacket all day long just because they were going in and out every hour. No bathroom neither, so they had to go inside the school to use the washroom.”
Teachers were just as impacted, with many working alone in portable classrooms throughout the year.
“For them too is a big change because teaching in a portable classroom is, like it's hard to even describe how isolated you can feel.”
Each teacher was confined to their own space, limiting collaboration and even basic conveniences.
“So even with the teachers, if they wanted to make a photocopy, they're like, oh, well, maybe I'm going to wait till the end of the day so I don't have to walk back and forth outside and inside.”
Now, with a large shared workspace, teachers are thriving too.
“The teachers work even more as a team, I would say. They can help each other a little more. They can communicate and talk to each other in the hallway even more than before,” Pilotte says.
Since moving into the new space, the school has celebrated several major milestones.
“We did our first Christmas concert in this new gym. So parents in the community was kind of the first time that they were able to enjoy the space with us. Since then, we did a band concert in May.”
They have also been able to host sports tournaments for the first time.
“We weren't able to do before because the last gym was smaller too. So, this is a time and a half bigger than what we had.”
The most exciting of all, the school will be hosting its first-ever graduation ceremony right in their own gym.
“This is a first ever. In the past, we had to go in the arena to do the graduation in there. We also did it in the church a few years back. But now that we have big spaces, we can utilize it for special events like this. It is very special to have it.”
After a successful first half-year in the updated facility, Pilotte says she’s looking forward to everything the new space will allow them to do in the years to come.
