An Okotoks mother had a smile that was a bright as the sun as she looked at the plans for a new school in Okotoks.
“I am excited — I can hardly wait,” Lyne Martineau said at an open house for the new École Beausoleil on Feb. 15. “They have a gymnasium, classrooms for workshop, a big library and a big common space that can be used as a cafeteria.”
The $9-million École Beausoleil is scheduled to open in September of 2018 at the corner of Milligan Drive and Ranchers Meadow.
The present École Beausoleil opened in 2007. It is a group of modular classrooms, directly south of Percy Pegler School.
Martineau has had her Grade 4 daughter Sophie at École Beausoleil since Kindergarten. The Francophone school is one of the reasons she moved to Okotoks.
“We moved over from Priddis over to Okotoks because this school was here,” Martineau said.
She was thinking far ahead.
“We bought our home close to where the new school is going to be,” she said with a smile.
At present, the K-Grade 9 École Beausoleil has 100 students and the new facility will be a K-Grade 12 school for 225 students.
Although there may be some extra room on opening day, that won’t last long, according to Yvan Beaubien of the Conseil Scolaire FrancoSud.
“We have a school that opened (in southern Alberta) in September and we have already had to request modular classrooms for next year because the school is already full,” Beaubien said. “It’s been like that for 25 years, not just in Alberta but all of Canada.”
He said typically Francophone schools open in a small building or modulars as was the case for École Beausoleil. When a new school is built, enrolment increases significantly.
There will be room at the new school for another five modulars, bringing the capacity to about 350 students.
École Beausoleil principal Ginette Beaulieu is looking forward to being in a school with all the amenities.
“It is going to be a success and it will be a chance for kids around here to reconnect with their culture and their language,” Beaulieu said. “To have a gym and a venue that other kids have at their schools.”
She said the Town of Okotoks has supported the school in regards to students using the Recreation Centre for physical education activities.
Beaulieu added the new school will allow École Beausoleil to become a full K-Grade 12 facility as sports teams, expanded music, drama and other programs can be offered.
Some students are already looking forward to having team.
“I have already had some Grade 3 kids submit logos for our new school,” Beaulieu said. “I am going to save them and show it to them when the school opens.”
Some future high school students plan to be there.
“We will have two kids doing Grade 10 here last year,” Beaulieu said. The students could graduate at the new facility in the June 2020. Grade 6 student Ava Samuelson was also pleased with what she saw at the open house.
“The library is going to be cool — it’s pretty big,” she said.
