Mady Demers smiles widely as she takes in the dozens of families eating, chatting and dancing on the grass of Junction Park at the celebration of the 20th anniversary of L'école les Aiglons on Friday.
“It is amazing to see,” Demers said. “I never thought that in 20 years we would achieve this.”
The francophone school, which Demers founded, started with a handful of students using space at local elementary schools and currently has close to 120 students and a school of its own.
“We had heard that Whistler had a French school and we needed 10 families,” Demers said, explaining how the school formed two decades ago. “We went through the phone book and called up people who had French names and asked, “Do you have kids? Do you want a French school?’”
The program started with just two classes.
Demers was inspired by her own desire for her children to speak French.
“My parents don’t speak English so for them it was really important that my kids speak French, and I think that is the same for the majority of students,” she said.
For many of the families past and present at Squamish’s francophone school often one parent is English speaking. The school ensures the French language and culture are continued, Demers said.
“They live in anglophone surroundings, their kids go to English sports and everything so to have a francophone school here is important,” she said.
L'école les Aiglons currently offers a comprehensive French curriculum for students from kindergarten to Grade 7 and belongs to the Francophone School Board of British Columbia, which itself was in its infancy 20 years ago.
The Francophone School Board of B.C. presently has more than 5,700 students across the province attending 37 schools and has seen 25 per cent growth in the last five years, according to data on its website.
In 2015, L'école les Aiglons moved from its shared space in Garibaldi Highlands Elementary to the former home of Capilano University on Carson Place behind Howe Sound Secondary.
Suejean Wallace, 13, is graduating from the school this year.
She said she likes “pretty much everything” about her school. Her father is from Quebec and her mom is from Squamish.
“We just got a new park and it is all brand new and shiny. We have a nice big school,” she said, listing a few of the things she likes about her school.
Squamish’s school has devoted supporters. Because its new home was formerly meant for university students, it lacked a playground.
Prior to the anniversary celebration on Friday there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the school grounds celebrating the completion of the first two phases of the school’s Play, Discover and Grow project, which includes a unique A-framed playground, a trail and garden boxes that were all built thanks to generous sponsors, donors and parent volunteers.
