École Catholique Saint-Dominique-Savio in Owen Sound is marking 25 years.
The French First Language school welcomed local dignitaries, including Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP Alex Ruff and MPP Rick Byers, Owen Sound Coun. Suneet Kukreja, as well as parents and members of the board to celebrate this milestone on Saturday.
Principal Shari Robitaille says being able to offer language, faith and culture at the school to Francophone and non-Francophone families across the region is very important.
“We know the founders of this school worked for over 10 years trying to get this school opened, so the fact that it is still thriving is something to celebrate,” says Robitaille. “The the continuation of the Catholic faith and how it has changed over the years and showing that is still vibrant in our community today and that everyone is welcome is something that is important.”
Savio started at just two classrooms and seven students in St. Basil’s in 1998. Then enrolment grew and the current school was constructed in 2002, teaching students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 starting in 2003.
“Due to strong growth in enrolment, from 2013 to 2015 the school required two major expansions, including the addition of eight new classrooms and an upgrade of some of the existing premises in order to meet the various needs of the academic community. In 2018, one final expansion was made to set up a school day care service. Today, the school has an enrolment of 193,” says the school.
Both Ruff and Byers congratulated the school for the anniversary and spoke of its importance to the community.
As part of the occasion, students displayed their talents by presenting works of art and musical performances.
“They had prepared a lot of things around the school as well as displays, so we had a lot of boards prepared to commemorate the French language in the community of Owen Sound and community of Grey Bruce,” says Robitaille.
She thanks all the people who attended the celebration as they welcomed people from across the province to mark the occasion.
“It really shows how the area of Grey Bruce brings a lot of different kind of people together and it was nice to see them together,” says Robitaille.
