It's Bittersweet!

 

For those that didn't know this yet, I’m a school interventionist and I love my job.  I have been in this last school for 6 years now and loved almost every minutes of it. Our old school was built in 1953.  It was a school that had a Chapel at the back. 

 

In the 1990’s beginning of 2000, the parents had to fight hard to keep their school. There were about 70 students at the time and the school district wanted to close it.  The parents won!

The Chapel has since been transformed in a gym (which was not a real gym) and a cafeteria at the same time. Every day, at 10:45, the janitor had to get all the cafeteria tables out and ready for 11.  Then after all three diners, at 12:30, he had to wash all the tables and floor so the gym teacher could teach at 1:05. We had so over grown our little school that there was 12 portables classes attached to the original structure.

 

My office had no window, a bit bigger than a closet, had a staff washroom and the (half) elevator door in it. Oh how convenient you may say!   Not convenient at all.  Most of the time, it was a pain, especially when I needed to meet with some students. We were always interrupted. But man did we have fun!  Staff playing prangs on the others,  lots of laughs and just plain having fun while doing do’s with what we had (or didn’t have).

Working in our school, you had to not have any personal bubble. There was no space to have one lol. Coming from a small school, you learn to know the parents and the grandparents. It is really a family school! Entering in the school, there was like a positive aura.  There was something special about our school and staff.  That’s what everyone that came in said.  We are about 30 full-time staffs and about 4 part-time. We are like a family. The dynamic between everyone is one of a kind. You can feel the positive energy.

Last Thursday, they started demolishing the old school. In a few weeks, there won’t be any trace left of our old school. Some may ask why they didn’t try to preserve the old building?  It was in a shape of no returns. There was mold hitten in the walls. You could smell it.  When they started demolishing, they found espesis (don’t know how to spell this lol) in the chapel walls.

 

Now in September 2013, we will be welcoming 238 students in a brand new school!  The new school has been built on the same lot. I will get a new office with an actual desk and A WINDOW!!! I know where my desk will be ;)  But I will miss the old school.  We have made such good memories.  I hope that everything won’t change too much. Oh, I know it will. There won’t be as much traffic in my office. It will be SO quiet. My office will be the farthest from the classes (I used to be able to basically hear everything that was going on). We always joked that if we found the new school too big, that we will just need to all go in my office to feel like we did in the old one.

There are so many positives with the new school! The students will actually have a REAL gym and cafeteria.  There will be places for those that need to intervene with students (we use to just sit on the floor in the hall). I will actually be able to see my students without interruption. Work wise, I will be able to do so much more!!! Can’t wait to finally put foot in the new school! We heard a lot about it, but weren’t allowed to go in.  The new school will be ready at the beginning of August.

In the meantime, I will probably have a few tears for the old school as it is being demolish, but will be so happy that we finally have a new school!!!