The French public school board broke ground this past weekend on yet another new school, this one in Scarborough.
"Finally after many talks and actions, we were able to put our hands on this lot that was separated from the TDSB," says
Conseil Scolaire Viamonde's director of education Gyslaine Hunter-Perrault, referring to the 15-acre property that was divided into 10 acres for single-family home construction and about five acres for the French school board.
The design of the small, one-storey school, which will initially have about 200 students with a capacity of 300, is based on Carrefour des Jeunes, a school the board had built in Brampton about a decade ago. The architects are Robertson Simmons.
Like all its recently built schools, the new École élémentaire
Laure-Rièse, named for the late Swiss-born professor at the University of Toronto's Victoria College, will include various ecologically conscientious elements. Hunter-Perrault says the question of whether they'll apply for LEED status has not been decided, since the application costs several thousand dollars, money which might be better spent elsewhere.
The school will replace
the current Laure-Rièse on Morningside Drive, which had become over-crowded.
Construction started this week, and the school is scheduled to be ready for the beginning of the school year in 2013.
The lot is on Alton Towers Circle, near McCowan, just south of Steeles.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Gyslaine Hunter-Perrault
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