'It's the people that make it a school': Educators reflect on a new Sudbury, Ont., school
CBC
There will be a new elementary school in Sudbury, Ont., starting in the fall.
The Rainbow District School Board will welcome some 350 students at the newly built Lasalle Elementary School. The kindergarten to Grade 6 French immersion school will be attached to Lasalle Intermediate School and Lasalle Secondary School.
It replaces three schools — Carl A. Nesbitt Public School, Ernie Checkeris Public School and Westmount Avenue Public School — that will shut their doors for the last time at the end of June.
"This has been a long time coming," said Jim Wachnuck, who's the principal at Nesbitt and Checkeris public schools, and has been appointed in the position at Lasalle Elementary.
"This process has taken a while, but the excitement is building and now that I'm able to get in there."
Wachnuck said the new school will have what is, in his opinion, the best gym of any elementary school in Sudbury.
Carl A. Nesbitt Public School was built in 1956, and he noted building technology "has come light years" since then.
Emily Caruso Parnell, who was a student at Nesbitt from Grades 1 to 8 and is now the principal at Westmount Avenue Public School, said there's a bit of anxiety, but also a lot of excitement about the new school.
"I think there's always a certain bittersweetness to these things," Caruso Parnell said.
"You know, obviously people have really good memories of these buildings and had really good experiences here. But a building is just a building, right? It's the people that make it a school."
Kristen Pichette, vice-principal at Nesbitt and Checkeris public schools, said the new school is "spectacular"
"It's bright, big windows," she said. "So I'm really excited to see it all come together. Now that it's in the final stages."
Pichette said while there were advantages to having smaller community schools, there are also some positives with a larger school.
She said the transition from elementary to intermediate and then secondary school will be easier for the students, because they are all connected.
About 30 properties in the Fraser Valley are under evacuation alert as the atmospheric river pummeling B.C. increases flood and landslide risks in several parts of the province.
WARNING: This story references allegations of child abuse.
Police say it was a 67-year-old Chatham man who died while scuba diving at the Erieau marina on Wednesday morning.
Enmax declared its lowest dividend, to be paid to the City of Calgary, in four years in its 2025 financial results.
Rilee Willianen says the City of Thunder Bay has received wide-ranging feedback about its plans to create designated encampment sites.
The Ontario government is planning to outlaw sky-high ticket resale prices, according to a news release.
As March break comes to an end, there are lots of fun events happening on the weekend in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County.
Yukon RCMP are renewing their plea for public help in the investigation into an unsolved 2023 double homicide near Mayo.
Thousands of Muslims in Calgary will mark the end of Ramadan by celebrating Eid al-Fitr on Friday, bringing to a close a month of worship, reflection and fasting.
Dozens of people walked through downtown London Wednesday night shining candles in honour of a First Nation’s woman found dead in the city last month, while also calling for increased awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.
Have tips for navigating telecom customer service? We want to hear from you. Click the “Join the Conversation” button above. On the app? Join here.
The Health Sciences Centre's cardiac catheterization lab has just completed a major upgrade. It’s been a makeover five years in the making, and officials say the waitlist is already improving.
Jamie Cleveland started his Ford Escape like he did every morning outside his Dartmouth, N.S., apartment building.