SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — It all started with four students and some passionate parents.
Now, 19 years later, Summerside’s French school has almost 200 students and held its first-ever graduation ceremony on Saturday.
The ceremony marked how far the school had come since its inception while also providing an opportunity for parents to reflect on the lengthy legal battle for the facility.
Noella Arsenault, one of the people who fought for the school to be opened, was in attendance at the historic ceremony.
“In the late 1980s I had four children and my oldest was in French immersion. We had no other choices in Summerside and I wanted my kids to be educated in the French language,” said Arsenault.
At the time, a three-year collaborative project between the Francophone Parents Federation and the French school was held to see how many in the area were interested in a French-language school.
While Arsenault enrolled her children, the project only lasted for two years after the school board withdrew funding and endorsements.
However, Arsenault and a handful of other parents decided they were not going to let the dust settle under their feet.
“In 1995, we went to court for funding to continue the French school. We won the court case, but within a month the provincial government took us to the Court of Appeal and we lost. Our balloon was busted.”
In less than 24 hours, Arsenault applied to the Supreme Court of Canada for the right to French education.
“In November 1999, we flew to Ottawa and in front of nine judges argued our case,” she said, adding the group of parents was successful.
On Jan. 13, 2000, École-sur-Mer came into existence.
But the story doesn’t end there.
Principal Karen LeBlanc said $6.2 million has been granted to build an extension of a high school wing.
“Some students may find the school more attractive to stay on when this is built. But these six students graduating stayed with the school because it was important for them to graduate in French, even without the proper infrastructure,” said LeBlanc.
The expansion will begin in July and will hopefully be completed in two years.
Vice-principal Joanne Bulger said the students believed in the school.
“For them, the importance of graduating in French was more valuable than the infrastructure, and tonight they will make history.”
Arsenault said she never dreamed this day would come.
“Our court case opened up French education on P.E.I. because, at the time, there were two French schools, and now we have six. But the court case also set precedence because communities all across Canada now have French language schools.”
