It was all Panthers on deck Monday as Father Jan and Marie Poburan students came together for their first year in their new joint school.
Thousands of students head back to school this week in St. Albert and Sturgeon County, with classes resuming Aug. 31. Many are getting sneak peeks at their schools earlier in the week through staggered entry days and welcome-back events.
École Father Jan, École Marie Poburan, and École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville (ESSMY) students got the scoop on their new French Immersion campus with a meet-and-greet ice cream event on Aug. 28.
Greater St. Albert Catholic trustees voted last January to turn the three schools into one single-track French Immersion campus. This involved closing Father Jan on June 30, moving its students to Poburan, and shuffling Poburan and Father Jan’s Grade 5 and 6 students over to ESSMY, making Poburan a K-4 school and ESSMY a 5-9. Poburan was also re-named to École Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart School).
Sacré Coeur principal Evan Holstein said it has been an exciting few weeks on campus, as teachers moved furniture and set up classrooms for the new school year.
“We see a lot of collaborative opportunities between the two sites,” he said of his school and ESSMY.
“The vibe in the school is very positive.”
New and old
Students and parents at Monday’s ice cream event got to check out the school’s new colours, shirts, mascot, and logos plastered on what seemed to be every wall and door.
The school’s main logo is a yellow heart with a cross coming out the top (a sacred heart) surrounded by a blue and yellow circle — sort of the inverse of Poburan’s old logo, which was a cross with a heart coming out of the top. There’s also a second logo of a panther’s paw with the sacred heart in its palm — a reference to the school’s sports team, the Panthers.
“We wanted to go with a big cat,” Holstein said of the team name, as Father Jan had the Jaguars and ESSMY had the Leopards.
Sacré Coeur students should also notice heraldic symbols of lions, bulls, angels, and eagles on classroom doors — a continuation of Father Jan’s “house” system of organization, Holstein explained, where students across different grades are grouped into factions called Leo, Taurus, Angelus, and Aquila. This system has been extended to ESSMY, and should help students find common ground during cross-campus events such as Carnaval. Sacré Coeur students will also continue the HRTS (“Hearts”) system of conduct used at Poburan, which encourages them to demonstrate the values of Honesty, Respect, Tolerance, and Safety.
Over at ESSMY, principal Monique Aultman said new Grade 5-6 students will experience school traditions such as the annual EZZFEST air-bands competition and the homemade poutine served every month. Students at Sacré Coeur and ESSMY will also take the same buses to school, keeping siblings together and cutting down on traffic.
“I just see it as growing our family,” she said of the new joint campus.
Later this year, Holstein said campus students will officially rename ESSMY’s chapel after Father Alphonse Jan (namesake of Father Jan school) and rename Sacré Coeur’s library and garden after Marie Poburan and St. Francis of Assisi, respectively. Sacré Coeur students will also have to pick a name for their panther mascot. Holstein said he hopes to bring the metal St. Francis sculpture and some stained glass windows over from the old Father Jan building at some point.
Holstein said school staff have plenty of exciting activities planned for parents and students this year.
“Be ready for fun. We’re going to have a great year.”
