Martensville Celebrates the Grand Opening of École Holy Mary Catholic and Lake Vista Public Schools

Released on September 19, 2017

Students, teachers and families in Martensville came together with dignitaries to celebrate the first ever joint-use school to be built in that community. Energy and Resources Minister Nancy Heppner, on behalf of Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre, joined school division officials to help mark the opening of École Holy Mary Catholic School and Lake Vista Public School.

“I want to congratulate the entire community of Martensville for the opening of these two important schools and the child care centre.” Heppner said.

“For our government, this joint-use school is about making children, students, families and education our top priority while meeting the demands of growth in Saskatchewan, which is something Martensville has been experiencing for more than a decade.” Eyre said.

“Opening École Holy Mary is such a significant milestone for families who have sought Catholic, faith-based education in Martensville for many years,” Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools’ Board Chair Diane Boyko said. “We’ve journeyed with many families for much of that time—some whose children have already graduated—and we’re very proud to be able to offer Catholic education to all of the city’s families who want that for their children.”

“The Board of Education is pleased to officially open this amazing new school, which will serve many Martensville students in this growing community,” Prairie Spirit School Division Board Chair Larry Pavloff said. “With its unique design, Lake Vista Public School will provide exciting learning opportunities for our students.”

The innovative school design creates more room for programming, including flexible walls that can turn smaller individual classrooms into larger spaces, a large third gymnasium with a multipurpose performance stage, shared home economics room, two library resource centres, large windows that create bright learning spaces, and outdoor learning spaces. Also unique to this school is the Practical and Applied Arts space that allows Grades 7 and 8 students at all of Martensville’s elementary schools to take woodworking class.

“We’re not just the first Catholic school in the city, we offer the first French immersion program—in addition to English instruction—in the area,” École Holy Mary Catholic School Principal Luisa Giocoli said. “I’m really looking forward to the many firsts that our school community will share together. It really is an exciting time!”

“At Lake Vista Public School, we are looking forward to building a new, close-knit school community to meet the needs of our learners,” Lake Vista Public School Principal Chris Mason said. “Our school was designed to allow students and teachers the space they need to collaborate, explore and be innovative.”

École Holy Mary Catholic School and Lake Vista Public School is part of the Joint-Use Schools Project, which includes eight schools at four locations in Saskatoon, two schools at one location in both Martensville and Warman, and six schools at three locations in Regina. Each joint-use school contains a 90-space child care centre as well as community space.

Since 2007, the Government of Saskatchewan has committed approximately $1.5 billion towards 67 major school capital projects and numerous smaller projects such as portable classrooms and preventative maintenance and renewal.

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