The very first cohort of students set to attend the brand-new Lasalle Elementary School toured the facility during an Aug. 31 open house, including Madison and Alexa Lynds, who are going into grades 4 and 2, respectively.
The new Rainbow District School Board facility got two thumbs up from Madison, who said she liked the classrooms, and added she thinks it’s going to be a good school.
“I think it's very nice,” said the girls’ dad, Matt Lynds. “It's well laid out. There's good decoration, the color schemes are good. The desks are unique and interesting.”
He said his daughters are excited to attend the brand-new school, although nervous going from a smaller school to a larger one. “It’s something different, a new adventure,” Lynds said.
Located on the same campus as Lasalle Secondary School in New Sudbury, the connected elementary school junior kindergarten to Grade 6 French Immersion school officially opens with the first day of school next week.
A total of 350 students are expected to attend the school this fall, though principal Jim Wachnuk said there’s room for 380 to 400 students.
The facility accepted students from the former Carl A. Nesbitt, Ernie Checkeris and Westmount Avenue schools, which have now closed their doors.
Wachnuk was at the door during the open house, greeting families as they entered the building after having enjoyed a barbecue outside. “The families are very excited,” said the principal. “There’s lots of questions.”
He said the vast majority of the staff for Lasalle Elementary came from the aforementioned now-defunct schools, including himself — he was most recently principal at Carl A. Nesbitt and Ernie Checkeris schools.
“So the students will have a lot of familiar faces, so that would be reassuring,” he said.
“It’s just so nice to be able to hear the little voices say, there’s Madame, or there’s Messieur. Change can be hard at times. Just going back to why we’re doing this open house, and that’s just to allay some of the fears.”
Wachnuk said it’s a “great honour” to be the first principal of Lasalle Elementary. “We are on the cusp of a new era,” he said.
The new school is a three-storey 47,480 square foot facility, and has 19 classrooms and a gymnasium (although the gym floor has yet to be installed — Wachnuk said this will happen during the fall).
The board said classrooms have been designed to bring in the natural light and provide an ideal environment for teaching and learning. The library is located in a big, bright space that will also serve as a gathering place for students.
“My favorite part of the new school I would say would be the airy and the bright hallways,” Wachnuk said. “In the past, the hallways in some of the schools haven't been as bright.”
Before and after school programs will begin when the school opens. Infant, toddler and pre-school child care as well as the EarlyON child and family program will be offered as of January 2024.
The Lancer Dome — a soccer dome also located on the same school campus — will also be available for the students’ use. Students will use the dome for their gym classes while the flooring in the school’s gym has yet to be laid.
With the new school’s build beset by construction delays and cost escalations, Lasalle Elementary is opening a year later than originally planned.
“We appreciate that parents and guardians exercised the patience that they did,” said Bruce Bourget, director of education with the Rainbow board, who was also on hand at the school’s opening.
“Some things were beyond our control — construction pieces, supply and demand, you know, whatever made things take a little extra time.
“Walking around and looking around, it was worth the wait. It's a beautiful building, and we're excited about school starting.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
