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Denis Dragon, the new principal of Iqaluit's first Francophone school, stands in the building's foyer surronded by unopened boxes of supplies.

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(PHOTO BY MIRIAM HILL)

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Iqaluit French school to open before Christmas

Name to be chosen before Christmas, too.

MIRIAM HILL

It's still unnamed, but Iqaluit's Francophone school is a sight to behold.

Perched on the road to Apex between Aqsarniit Middle School and the new Arctic Winter Games Complex, the building is expected to house students within the next two weeks.

Denis Dragon, the school's principal, says as long as all inspections are positive, 35 registered students will move from Nakasuk School to the new facility before the Christmas vacation.

Schools re-open Jan. 7 and Dragon says he'd like to have new bus routes ironed out by then.

The K-8 students have been housed in four classrooms and taught by four Francophone teachers at Nakasuk School since September.

"There's room for everybody, but I know when we will be leaving Nakasuk, it certainly will help alleviate the space challenges they have here," Dragon says.

What the school will be called is still up in the air, though. Dragon says that, too, will be decided on before Christmas.

"We have a whole stack of potential names," he says. "There's a committee set up. They're going to meet shortly and go through all the suggestions."

The chairman of the naming committee is Andre Menoche, an elected representative of the district education authority. About 50 name suggestions came to Dragon's desk by fax, phone, and in person.

The first things to hit a person walking into the new school building are the colours - red, purple, blue, lime-green, yellow - all bright and contrasting beautifully with each other.

To the left is the bureau du directeur, the principal's office. There is no furniture in the administration area yet, but a telephone sits on the floor of that office.

Just beyond the entrance the foyer is packed full of cardboard boxes stuffed with furniture and supplies. White light fixtures hang from a sloping, high pine-ceiling roof. A line of windows will offer a view of the bay.

As construction workers mill around, Dragon explains the building will hold about 100 students. There is also a pre-kindergarten area and a daycare.

Only students with Francophone parents, for whom French is their first language, are able to attend this school, he says.

To the right of the foyer, down a hall, is a room that will be the library. Empty bookcases stand waiting to be filled, some are tall, and others are lower to the ground.

Across the hall is what Dragon terms the community hall - a perfect spot for events like Christmas concerts, he says. A kitchen opens off one corner, with a plaque reading "cuisine" on the door.

The classrooms themselves each have a sink, counter and cupboards. Miniature desks and bright yellow chairs have been unpacked in some spots, and big windows will let in lots of light.

Blackboards have been replaced here with dry-erase boards, and pipes jutting from the pine ceiling have been camouflaged with bright purple metal work snaking across the top of the room.

Lorne Levy, manager of capital planning for Nunavut's Department of Education, explains that the Government of Canada provided most of the funding for the school, about $4.7 million through their Canadian Heritage program.

The government of Nunavut will contribute just under $700,000 in cash, and also gave an "in kind" contribution of $530,000, which includes things like the assessment of the land on which the school is built.

The daycare was funded under a separate agreement, again from Canadian Heritage to the Department of Culture, Elders, Language and Youth, for $450,000.

It's easy to see where the dollars were spent. Designed by Iqaluit architect Sophie Bolduc, the school's square footage isn't huge, but the high sloping ceilings give a feeling of airiness.

"The architect put a lot of thought into all the details," Dragon says, gesturing to the simulated corrugated tin roofs jutting out from the top of each classroom. "It's very nice."

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