A day of firsts as high-tech new school opens its doors
September 5, 2007
Daniel Girard
EDUCATION REPORTER
Summer vacation is over, but it's now playtime for the youngsters at one Brampton school.
Students at Father Francis McSpiritt Catholic Elementary yesterday officially opened their new school – a glitzy, climate-controlled building that will house some of the very latest in educational toys.
From 50 new computers with flat- screen monitors and Internet connections in every classroom to a science lab, literacy room, double gymnasium and fully irrigated soccer field, the more than 300 students in junior kindergarten to Grade 8 have lots to break in.
"It's no longer about the books you have in the library, it's how much you can do technologically," said Laura DiGiambattista, principal of the school in the heart of an ever-expanding subdivision off Highway 7 near McVean Dr.
"Kids today are coming to us computer literate and it's our job to educate a resilient student who knows how to make the most of the technology out there."
In Michelle Medeiros-Paun's class, they're itching to get started. The Grade 7 students said they want to get their hands on "all kinds of new stuff" most will be using for the first time.
"It'll be fun because at my old school I didn't have these things but now I do," said one anxious boy in a comment echoed by his classmates.
But some of it will have to wait a few days. With construction crews rushing to get ready to start the school year, DiGiambattista held off the delivery of the computers and some specialized equipment.
Once it's all in place, it promises to be well used. After all, this is a burgeoning subdivision in Brampton, the GTA community with the highest proportion of children younger than 15, according to the 2006 Census.
The school, with between 300 and 400 students this year, is slated to have up to 1,000 by 2011.
For parent Angela Albanese, 39, having the school around the corner from her house not only ends the 15-minute drive of three daughters twice each day but also offers "a real sense of community."
The mother of twin daughters in senior kindergarten and another girl in Grade 5, Albanese said: "It's all very exciting" because everything the kids are using is new and the range of student needs – for all grades – has been taken into account in the school's design.
"They thought about everything when they planned it," she said with enthusiasm.
Toronto Star