Ukrainian students studying at Pavillion Sainte-Marie in Otter Lake

Ukrainian students studying at Pavillion Sainte-Marie in Otter Lake

Several Ukrainian students have begun their school year at the Pavillion Sainte-Marie in Otter Lake. CHIP 101.9 spoke with Stephane Bouchard, the Director of l’École des Petits-Ponts, which oversees Sainte-Marie about how the newcomers were doing.

“Well, super good news, you know,” he said (translated). “We are always happy to welcome new people to the Pontiac territory. So how did it go? Well, very well under the circumstances. Of course the challenge was not to delay the integration of the children too much at the start of the school year, because, well, it was still something that happened very, very close in relation to the start of the school year. So, we had to find quick solutions to adjust the services, then, basically, provide support for the teams in place and then also to welcome the students as quickly as possible to allow them to adapt to the reality of our francophone and Quebec schools.”

New students and their families will be able to benefit from the support of various organizations, in order to continue their integration in the coming weeks.

“Yes, well, there are many follow-ups. You know, that happens at all levels, really, of a child’s success,” Bouchard said (translated). “Regardless of their origins, it does not matter, there are ongoing communications with all stakeholders, at all levels. So it could be the Haut-Bois-de-l’Outaouais development officer who is involved, it could be the coordinator of educational services, it could be our agent for primary school transitions in Petits-Ponts, it could be us, the directors. So that’s not counting all the work done by the school staff. So, there are always very, very close follow-ups to really facilitate as much as possible the integration of these new students into our schools.”

The full (French-language) interview with Stephane Bouchard is available here.