WATCH ABOVE: Classes will begin on time at the south Edmonton elementary school that was badly damaged by fire. Tom Vernon reports.
EDMONTON — A south Edmonton Catholic school will be ready for students when school starts in three weeks, even though several portable classrooms were destroyed by fire last week.
Seven modulars, housing six classrooms and a washroom, were destroyed at École Frère Antoine, near 28 Avenue and Mill Woods Road, after fire broke on August 11th.
READ MORE: Seven portables destroyed in south Edmonton school fire
In a letter sent out on Tuesday, École Frère Antoine Principal Dean Cockburn said the school district is moving two modular classrooms to the school site. The two portables were purchased by Edmonton Catholic Schools last year. It plans to have the replacement portables built on site, and says outfitted each will cost half a million dollars. The district hopes insurance will cover the cost.
Cockburn also said he’s working with the school’s assistant principal on a plan to move other classes from the destroyed portables into the main school building, which was not seriously damaged. Last week, the district said the plan may include using the gym or library as temporary classrooms.
“I want to assure you that every student will have an appropriate learning space when school starts on September 8th,” said Cockburn.
An open house will be held sometime in the next two weeks before school starts. A date and time is still being worked out.
Restoration crews have been on site since last week, working to clean up the damage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Last week, Edmonton Catholic Schools said the education minister had reached out to offer support and said he would expedite the delivery of seven modular classrooms. However when contacted by Global News, a spokesperson for Alberta Education would only say they would be working with the Ministry of Infrastructure “to assist with modular classrooms as needed.”
Several parents and teacher who stopped by the school to check out the damage last week said it’s about much more than just the physical structures.
“This is a French Immersion school and it’s extremely difficult to find appropriate resources for the students, so a lot of the teachers spend a lot of their own personal money and time creating resources by hand, on the computer, just so that it’ll fit into their classroom environment,” said Nicole St. Jean, a teacher at the school.
A local group has started collecting items for the teachers. You can visit the group on Facebook. Updates on the school will be posted to Frère Antoine’s website.
With files from Caley Ramsay and Fletcher Kent, Global News
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