The French Catholic and French public school boards in Hamilton have secured a site for a new high school after it was promised over seven-years ago by the Ontario Ministry of Education (MOE).
“In 2016, the Ministry of Education announced funding for this new school. The announcement was made to build two distinct new French-language secondary schools on the same site: a Catholic school — Académie catholique Mère-Teresa, and a secular school — École secondaire Georges-P.-Vanier, sharing a single building around a community school centre,” said Virginie Oger, communications adviser with the MonAvenir Catholic School Board.
The province recently approved to trade land previously acquired for the project in 2015, for the new site at 700 Garner Rd. E. in Ancaster.
The swap was deemed necessary as it was revealed the lands did not meet the City of Hamilton’s requirements. After working for several years with the city to comply with its bylaws, it was then necessary to obtain the Ministry of Education’s authorization to dispose of the site and acquire the one on Garner Road East.
The school will replace the east Mountain’s Académie catholique Mère-Teresa and Westdale’s Georges-P.-Vanier high schools, both former elementary schools.
“École secondaire Aca-démie catholique Mère- Teresa opened in September 1999 as a Grades 7 to 12 school. At the outset, it was known that the building it presently occupies at 50 Lisgar St. in Hamilton was not suited as a facility for a high school as this building is a former elementary school,” said Oger in explaining what necessitates the project.
“Design, space and needs of a secondary school facility are very different than those needed for an elementary school (size of classes, need for workshops, sports, specialized equipment, gym, etc.). The Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (then known as Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud) has since been seeking funding from the Ministry of Education to build a brand-new school facility, one equivalent to what is offered to students elsewhere in Ontario attending secondary school. With student enrolment continuously increasing, the financing of this project has been a priority at Csc MonAvenir for over a decade.”
She added, “A new and larger facility is still a pressing need for the community. Académie catholique Mère-Teresa, Hamilton’s only French-language Catholic secondary school, continues to grow. It currently has 442 Grades 7 to 12 students and projections for the 2024-2025 school year continue on the upwards trend.”
In speaking of the secular school, Steve Lapierre, executive director of communications, recruitment and partnerships with the Viamonde School Board said, “Georges-P.-Vanier High school currently serves the community of Hamilton as well as the community of Burlington. We currently have one elementary school in Hamilton and one in Burlington that are feeding our secondary school, although the plan for a new elementary school in Hamilton West is also moving forward.”
For the Catholic students, Oger said the new school will also service those from as far away as Brantford and Simcoe.
With the land swap, the build remains the same, two distinct schools of 400 pupils each, one Catholic, the other public, in separate wings, operating under the same roof. Some spaces will be shared between the two schools, such as a cafeteria, auditorium and sitting areas.
The entire building will have a footprint of appro- ximately 140,000 square feet.
This includes a community space funded by Heritage Canada. According to Oger, it will be built with “21st century skills in mind, technology and workshops for skilled trades such as transportation and carpentry.”
The two school boards have received $2.4 million from Heritage Canada, in addition to $26.5 million in funding announced in 2016 from the MOE.
“The original budget, allocated in 2016, was $25 million. With the rising building costs, we will be seeking for additional funding from the MOE before we can break the ground for this project. There are a couple more steps to achieve before our school boards can launch an RFP to find a builder,” said Lapierre.
“We are waiting upon site approval from the City of Hamilton and confirmation of funding adjustments from the MOE before we can proceed.”
The architect of the project is Toronto-based Snyder, who have submitted the first site plan to the city.
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