Students return to École Évangéline post Fiona
ABRAM-VILLAGE, P.E.I. – All students have now returned to École Évangéline.
The school was heavily damaged by post-tropical storm Fiona on Sept. 24 and its population has spent the months since learning at a temporary campus on the community exhibition grounds.
Students in Grades 7 to 12 returned to their normal classrooms on Jan. 26; close to a week later, on Friday, Feb. 3, students from kindergarten to Grade 6 followed.
Brent Arsenault, a Grade 12 student, said while he enjoyed his time at the exhibition grounds, it’s great to be back in his old classrooms.
“It’s always nice to come back where you were for the last 12 years or so,” he said.
In a Sept. 26 interview, Gilles Arsenault, superintendent of the Commission scolaire de langue française (CSLF), told SaltWire Network that around two-thirds of the building sustained damage in the storm.
The eastern end of the building – which had previously housed the elementary students – took much of the damage, losing its roof.
Instead of returning to their old classrooms, those in the lower grades have been moved elsewhere in the school.
Staff have converted the library into three classrooms, and some offices have also been turned into makeshift classrooms.
“It’s going to be interesting,” said principal Dominique Morency.
The gym at the eastern end – for Grades 7 through 12 – remains under construction. Until that work is completed, Morency said students continue to go elsewhere for gym classes.
The most severely damaged section of the building is permanently out of use due to damage.
Instead of repairs, students in the Evangeline region will be getting a new school – which Morency said should be built around 2026.
“We’re hoping that [current] Grade 8s will either be the last class graduating in here or the first class graduating in the new school,” said Morency. “It’s exciting to know that we’ll have something new.”
Feb. 3 was the first day back at the school for Sébastien Amyot, the gym teacher for kindergarten to Grade 6.
The time away, he said, was “interesting.” Following the storm, gym classes were held at the exhibition grounds’ barn, until the cold weather settled in, and the lack of heat forced them to move.
With each move, Amyot was forced to bring all the gym equipment with him to the new spot.
“A gym teacher without a gym?” Amyot laughed. “It’s a little bit difficult.”
His students, said Amyot, seemed excited to return to their old gym – and if they’re not, he added, he, at least, is glad.
“It’ll be much easier.” Although the first day with everyone back had gone smoothly, Morency said there will be an inevitable adjustment period as faculty discovers what works and what is still needed.
Still, she appreciates the support shown by the community to provide accommodation while École Évangéline underwent its repairs.
“Seeing kids in a real classroom, it’s always better,” she said. “We do adapt, but the normal is something that we always need. Kids need that (structure).”