Magog’s Pie-x school to get new gym
Magog’s Saint-pie X Primary School will be getting a new gymnasium and additional premises will be built on the school grounds, which have seen its numbers increase rapidly in recent years.
The official announcement of a $4.5 million government investment was be made by Orford MNA Pierre Reid on behalf of Education Minister Sébastien Proulx Wednesday at a press conference at the school.
"This expansion at St-pie-x primary school responds to a need that has grown over the years - a need that has been well expressed by parents and well understood by the Commission scolaire des Sommets,” Reid said. “The Governing Board and the school team have done a great deal of work in order to provide children with the necessary pedagogical environment in a very small space. This expansion will standardize this environment by providing adequate space for a gymnasium, library, childcare, and a new classroom. This investment also meets a priority of the City of Magog in terms of residential development for young families who want to settle in Magog."
Currently, the gym is a large multifunctional room with a relatively low ceiling. Since there was not enough space for pupils' lockers elsewhere in the school, several dozen were moved to this room, which also serves as a corridor to the washroom and the schoolyard.
A library, a "specialized classroom," as well as a daycare will also be set up inside the school. An additional $500,000 is earmarked for modernizing on-site infrastructure and to add elements to promote academic success.
In recent years, parents of the school had expressed their dissatisfaction after realizing that pupils were increasingly cramped on campus, where an increase in the student population of about 30 per cent has been observed. As a result an expansion project, including a new gymnasium, was then proposed. School management, a group of parents, and the Des Sommets School Board all worked together to achieve the objective.
Magog Mayor Vicki-may Hamm addressed the overcrowding last year, as had Reid, and both had indicated that they felt it was important that the eastern quarter of the city be equipped with a sufficiently large school. A number houses have been added in this sector in recent years, and there is no indication that construction will be reduced in this part of the city any time soon.