École St-Thomas d’Aquin school in Astorville to be replaced

Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord
News Release

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The Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord school board has received 6.6 million dollars in funding to replace École St-Thomas d’Aquin school in Astorville, a building which dates back to 1954.

At the present time, the school accommodates close to 200 students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 as well as a full-time childcare facility and a Nipissing Best Start Child and Family Centre. Replacement of École St-Thomas d’Aquin has been part of Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord’s long term capital expenditure plan since 2006 when the Ministry of Education published the results of its inspection of each of the schools in the province. The report showed that the estimated cost of repairs and upgrades to bring the École St-Thomas d’Aquin building to current standards was well beyond its replacement value.
In developing its long term capital expenditure plan, the Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord school board researched the situation of each of its schools, taking into consideration not only the condition of each building, but also the needs of each school community.

In the past five years, the board has successfully completed the construction of four new schools: École élémentaire catholique Saint-Joseph, Sturgeon Falls, École élémentaire Saints-Anges, North Bay, École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Anne, Mattawa, and École secondaire catholique Élisabeth-Bruyère, Mattawa. It has also done extensive renovations and constructed additions to École La Résurrection in Sturgeon Falls and École secondaire catholique Algonquin in North Bay. Each new construction has been designed to maximize the utilization of new technology, support for students with special needs, student safety and energy efficiency. In doing so, the board has managed to improve services to each of these communities while reducing the number of facilities it maintains from seventeen to twelve.

In reaction to the funding announcement, Cynthia Roveda, Director of Education at Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord, said: “Thanks to the dedication of its school personnel and the engagement of its parents, the École St-Thomas d’Aquin school community has managed to thrive in its present facilities.

We are elated to have this opportunity to build accommodations which reflect and support the quality of education which is presently offered to each student at the school.”

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