The school currently under construction in O'Brien Lake West is slated to be open for the 2022-23 school year (Photo: Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools)

By Shaun Penner

Opening Fall 2022

GPCSD board votes to make O’Brien Lake West school French immersion

Mar 24, 2021 | 4:12 PM

The board of trustees for Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools has voted to have the new school in O’Brien Lake West become a Grade K-7 French immersion school when it opens in the fall of 2022. The new St. Patrick School would become a K-8 English School when it is built and ready for students.

The Board made the call at Monday’s meeting, following a series of community consultations with parents, stakeholders and members of the parish.

Chair Michael Ouelette says the original plan was for the school to serve as an English school, but new information following those consultations led the board to reconsider that move.

“New information came in as we were gathering data… (suggesting) that may not have been the best decision,” said Ouelette.

He says that decision was partly made because of current enrolment pressures on Ecole St. Gerard, where the division’s French immersion program is currently offered.

“Ecole St. Gerard was full, we had to do something,” said Ouelette. “There were different scenarios brought forward, but the one that was passed by the board is to go with O’Brien Lake as a K-7 French immersion school. That takes the pressure off of St. Gerard.”

The division has seen a change recently in its enrolment numbers, with pressure easing on the English elementary side of the student population. With that, the board approved the change for English schools to return to a K-8 format, while French immersion schools would operate on a K-7 and 8-12 model.

READ MORE: GPCSD Board approves change back to Grade K-8 model for English students

“We spent so much time as a board dealing with growth, growth, growth, we need schools…” said Ouelette. “Now, we’re dealing with ‘how do we take care of the schools that we have?’… the growth isn’t there. I’m very confident that growth is going to come back,” he added.

What that would mean for Ecole St. Gerard and the French immersion program there remains to be seen, as the board will make a decision on what that school will offer at a later date.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board prioritized the partial demolition/modernization of Ecole St. Gerard. as part of its three-year capital plan. The goal there would see 16 wooden modular additions a the school be removed while adding eight new steel-built modulars.