Drummondville's only English elementary school full to bursting, but no new building in sight

Grade 6 student ThomasLaroche hasa list of suggestions he drew up with his classmates of things toimprove at Drummondville Elementary School, the only English-language school in the city of 68,000, 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Their list doesn't include high-tech computers or expensive sporting equipment just more room.

"A library, a big gym, a cafeteria, a music room, a science lab, a French class," Larochereads from his list.

Students aren't the only ones demanding more space. Parents and staff at Drummondville Elementarysay the school's potential is limited because it istoo small andovercrowded.

"We really need a much larger school," says Michael Murray, the chair of the Eastern Townships School Board.

"As simple justice, we need a school that is at least as good as the two new schools that have been built for francophone kids in that community for the last three years."

Most students are francophones

Unlike schools in the island of Montreal's two English-language boards, DrummondvilleElementary is growing.

When it opened in 1999 in a 1950s-erabuildingthat oncehoused Kindergarten to Grade 3 French-language students, there were fewer than 100 students. By 2012, its student population had nearly doubled, and since then, it's increased another 25 per cent, to 239.

Registration for next year isn't yet over, and already, the school secretary, Carole Hodack, knows the enrolment will top 250 inSeptember.

"I've seen our school grow from a little, little family to a huge family," says Hodack, who's worked there for 18 years.

Most students come from francophone families like Sylvie Faucher's.

Faucher's two sons attend Drummondville Elementary, because she did some of her elementary school education in English, thereby acquiring an English eligibility certificate under Quebec's French language charter which is transferable to the next generation.

"Everyone I know thinks my kids are blessed; they're so privileged to be allowed to go to English school," Faucher says."Everyone knows that it's a good step for your future. Everyone needs to speak English, and when you learn as a child it's so much easier to become fluent."

Faucher is worried that if the school doesn't get more space, itwill have to eventually turn away applicants if nothing changes.

"How can you refuse to let a child come to this school and learn English?" she asks. "It doesn't make sense in my head.''

Lack of storage space, privacy

There are 14 rooms in the school, which is why there's no dedicated French classroom and no library.

Teachers spread library books on shelves throughout the school, while French teachers use storage units in different places.

Grade 6teacher Kathy Napier said constantly looking for material is counter-productive and problematic.

"When someone else is using the room with students, you can't go in and start digging through boxes. It's not fair to the kids," she said.

Without office space, Napier finds herself working at the staff room table.

"There isn't a confidential space in the school right now, if you need to have a quiet conversation on the telephone with a parent," she said.

There's not even a janitor's closet: that was removed last year to make room for a wheelchair-accessible elevator.

The principal and students agree that the gym is too small for sports and Grade 6 studentMathysHoulePhillips said physedclasses are also disrupted regularly because the only way to get to the school's washroom is through it.

"I find it's not really safe," he said.

Student Emma Bousquetis alsoconcerned about the noise levels.

She said recess times haveto be split up between age levels, "and sometimes when you're in class and you're studying for a test or something, the little kids come in so it gets all noisy for everybody," she said.

Political decision?

The Eastern Townships School Board has applied tothe Ministry of Education to build a new school for four years.

The board's chairsaid the requestswere deemed admissible and met the criteria for the construction of a new school.

"If it meets the criteria, then it becomes a political decision," Murraysaid.

However, in an emailed statement,the Ministry of Education said the school "did not meet the requirements of thebudgetary investment rules for school boards."

A school has to be four classrooms short of space or have a waiting list of 125 students before becoming eligible for a new building, the ministry said.