Gonzaga Jesuit school wins over some critics, but not all, as it prepares to open in Winnipeg

A​ private Jesuit school set to open in Winnipeg's inner city has won over some critics, including those who had raised the spectre of residential schools, but the head of the city's largest public school division remains opposed to the plan.

Gonzaga Middle School will open with its first Grade 6 class of 20 students this fall, then expand to additional grades in subsequent years. Eventually, the school plans to take in 60 students from Grades 6 to 8.

The school in Winnipeg's Point Douglas neighbourhood was pitched as a way to help children in the inner city break the cycle of poverty by providing a good, private education for free.

However, some in the community wondered if it would also encourage students to abandon their cultural roots in favour of Catholicism.

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Tom Lussier, executive director and principal of Gonzaga Middle School, said it is a day school — not a residential school — and it will work hard to be part of the reconciliation process for First Nations.

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Stressing that point and committing to work with the community, including on the reconciliation process with First Nations, has helped sway critics, he said.

"We want to be part of a larger conversation in the community and not to be an isolated small school," he said. "We've reached an agreement on working towards reconciliation … [and] want to contribute to the process."

The school is also committed to working with and supporting neighbourhood businesses such as Neechi Commons for feasts and functions.

As well, Gonzaga officials are installing a permanent art exhibit to commemorate the legacy of residential schools.

Furthering the school's efforts to help break the cycle of poverty, two private Catholic schools in Winnipeg — St. Mary's Academy and St. Paul's High School — have agreed to accept "qualified applicants" from Gonzaga in the future and waive their tuition.

'Moving in the right direction'

Larry Morrissette, an Indigenous activist and educator who co-founded Children of the Earth High School, which focuses on Indigenous identity and culture, was a vocal critic of the Gonzaga plan but now supports it.

He likes that parents will be closely involved with the school, and applauds the plan to "shop locally and look at things within the community."

"They're interacting with other … institutions that are like Children of the Earth or those type of things where we can really, really begin the process of change," he said.

The fact that people such as Niigaan Sinclair, head of the department of Native studies at the University of Manitoba, and NDP MLA Kevin Chief have advocated for the school has helped, as has reaching out to the community to bring people on side, Morrissette said.

"I feel strongly, you know, that they're really moving in the right direction. [The school has] involved a lot of really good people to help them, that have a lot of knowledge."

Mark Wasyliw, chairman of the Winnipeg School Division's board of trustees, maintains that it's a bad idea for Gonzaga to hand-pick the best students out of public schools.

"When you take those kids out of the classroom, it diminishes the rest of the classroom for everybody else," Wasyliw said.

"Those kids are like little teachers in that classroom — they help their students, they raise the sort of academic level all around — and it's going to remove those children, who are potential leaders in that community, and take them out of the community."