Summerside French school to welcome high school students
'We will probably need more resources space-wise to be able to handle it'
Bring on the caps and gowns for children going to École-sur-Mer, the French school in Summerside.
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The school board is adding grades 10, 11 and 12 to the school, allowing students to complete high school in the community, instead of being forced to travel to École Évangéline in Abrams Village, or switching to an English program for high school.
"We will probably need more resources space-wise to be able to handle it," said French language school board president Émile Gallant.
"Grade 10, 11, 12 is a little different than what you have in Grade one, two, and three, you know sciences and all those," Gallant added.
The expansion will start in September with a Grade 10 class.
The board has been in discussions for two years about offering high school in Summerside and Gallant said they felt now was the time to act.
"We were in the process of having industrial arts and a music room being built right at this time with the Department of Education. So those will be built to be able to accommodate kids not only in grades seven, eight and nine but also 10, 11 and 12," he said.
The education department has not yet formally received the request from the school board, and officials said they will comment when they have time to review it.
École-sur-Mer currently has more than 130 students.