Ecole St. Mary High School held its annual open house on Mar. 6 and 7 to meet, discuss and talk about the things they do and give a tour of the entire Institution.
Prospective St. Mary students met in the school’s largest gym to talk with staff members about opportunities available at the school before touring the entire facility. Principal Dwayne Gareau said the goal is to show off the entire school so potential students can see everything St. Mary has to offer.
“I always say this: we’re not in competition with anyone,” Gareau said. “We want to be what we want to be, and if we’re the right choice for what people want, then they’ll choose to be here, but there are other options for them, and people will have to make decisions as a family (about) what’s best. We want students who think that this is the right fit for them to be in our school.
“It’s a matter of finding the right fit for students,” he added.
This year marked the return of St. Mary’s two-day tour. Last year, the tours were interrupted by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation labour dispute with the provincial government. That forced St. Mary to hold just one night of school tours.
Gareau said it was great to return to two nights as usual.
“It was a very large crowd (last year),” he said. “It was nice. We want as many people to come as need to see it, but when you’re doing a tour, it’s nice to have a decent size but not too big so we can get in and out of rooms quickly.”
Gareau said they try to highlight St. Mary’s advantages, and one of the biggest is the staff. He said in classroom instruction is obviously important, but staff at the school go above and beyond for the extracurricular components.
“So many staff really do give to the extracurricular engagement at the school which just adds to the life of the school,” he said. “That never gets tiresome. It never ceases to amaze me how many staff do get involved.”
Gareau helped conduct tours on Wednesday and Thursday, along with vice-principals Jason bourdon and Lydia Mcleod, and other staff members.
–with files from Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
