The End of an era at St. Augustine's

On this beautiful day in Vancouver, we watched as our little old school was taken down.  After 64 years of service to our Parish, and following our move into our brand new school, it is time to let our old school go.  We are so grateful that we were able to stay there just long enough to begin our lives in our 3rd school at St. Augustine's.

 

In speaking with the school community last week, we talked about how for so many people, the loss of our old school is really significant.  They had enjoyed many years of excellent education, established many friendship within its walls, and were grateful for the host of memories that comprise St. Augustine's School.

Thank you to the workers who are doing such a good job to keep us safe, while doing their work to prepare for us to create both new play spaces and new parking.  Let's all keep watching to see what happens next!

Labour Day 2015

We've had a summer of intense activity both within our 'little old school' and on the construction site encompassing our 'school all bright and new'.  On all levels of effort, much care, commitment and generosity of time personifies the HUGE effort being made to open our new school.
In the past weeks, we've seen the 'back lane' on the WEST side of our property take on a whole new look.  The sidewalks are poured, the blacktop at the NORTH end of the land was laid, and the preparation work is almost complete for the SOUTH end of the lane. 
Over the coming month or so, as the old school is prepared for demolition, access to this area will not be possible as the office 'attachment' part of the building is demolished.
What we know is going to happen is that we are going to be in what I'm terming 'rolling changes' for a little while.  Caution, attentiveness to the presence of children will be core to a successful transition time.

Hopefully these photos will provide a visual representation of what has transpired - This is a most exciting time for all!

 Exterior stairs and landing which will lead to new gym entrance

 Washing the exterior brick on south wall

Looking at an outdoor walkway into our southeast facing stairwell and
adjoining childcare outdoor space

oh, so close!

Today we had the honour of the presence of four Sisters of St. Ann joining us for a "we're almost done" tour of our beautiful, brand new building.
The Sisters of St. Ann, upon invitation from our Oblate Fathers, were the founding Religious Order who began our School 105 years ago.  It was such a holy time to welcome them' back home' - to have the Sisters standing on the same ground that held our original school.
They were delighted with our Parish's vision, determination and commitment to continuing the Mission of Catholic Education at St. Augustine's Parish. 
It was a holy time shared with them today - and thanks to the Yellowridge team for obliging our presence in the school and to our building team for arranging the tour.

 The entrance way on 7th Avenue, facing southeast

 Looking south, on 7th Avenue - all the
scaffolding to support bricklayers removed as of August 28

Mid-August, 2015 - Heading to the Finish Line

 Looking at the south wall - seeing the various textures and colours of brickwork

We're almost half way through August and our new building site is buzzing with activity. Visually from the outside, you can see that the majority of the outside brick work is completed.  It is colourful, unique and tells two big messages:  We are a CATHOLIC school as depicted by two crosses embedded in our outside walls on both the North and East walls of our school, AND the brickwork is intentionally very playful!  There have been many positive comments about its uniqueness and we are delighted that our new school building's outside is being so well-received.

 The entrance cross on 7th Avenue - ground to rooftop

The interior is simply beautiful - seeing the attention to detail, creative use of space, abundant light and use of coloured glass, wall coverings and fixtures really fills us with Gratitude: our most frequently used expression.

This coming Saturday we are expecting to begin MOVE 3: moving all the children's desks and chairs into the new building for safe keeping as the abatement process begins on our little old school.  Thank you to all the parents and alumni students who have signed up through ON VOLUNTEER to help with this task.  If you can help, please sign up - or just come!

This is an ADULT ONLY activity and will require lifting student desks and chairs.

                             All are welcome 8:00 - 12:00 AM, Saturday, August 15, 2015

The freshly poured cement at what will be the exit driveway on the west side of our school property

Looking east on 7th Avenue and seeing the openness that City of Vancouver's tree trimming has created for our north facing rooms and entrance way (and viewing the elevated apparatus that allows for the brick layers to work their way in tandem up the wall)

July 15 progress

Looking west on Arbutus street on the corner of 7th Avenue

Our new entrance on 7th Avenue ... 2154 West 7th

Our new west-facing wall ...will be visible from the lane to be built there.  You can see the unique pattern of bricks clearly from the vantage point as most of this brick has been washed.

South facing wall ....the apparatus allows for continuous elevation for the bricklayers and multiple teams working simultaneously.

After months of silence ...

It is most likely UNCOMMON to see a BLOG post begin with an apology ... but this one will for sure!  These past three months have seen us exceptionally busy on the inside of our little school  and  (see the website for a small collection of our events), coupled with interviewing and confirming new families into our school, continuing to raise the essential money that we need to fund such a big project, that this writer had neglected her BLOG.  Being involved with the construction company and our Building Committee over these past months has captivated much of my time as we've watched our new, really beautiful building grow.

Classes ended early for children, allowing us adults to pack up our little old school, and prepare to move into our new one.  We had an astounding response from our generous parents, with over 120 families coming to help us pack up over the course of the final days of June.  It was inspiring to see so much generosity of time and talent - and we are thankful to everyone who supported us on this first WAVE.

We're now into July -  and WAVE 2 projects are taking place:  moving doors, entrance and exit ways in the gym and preparing to take down our old school. 

The  our new building has bricks on all four sides in various stages of completion.  It's been such a joy to watch it ... and I find myself often going outside just to view a new segment, and say a prayer of thanksgiving for this stage of the project and the generosity that has brought us to this amazing place!  The Architects have used the building surface to design a pattern that is decidedly unique;  we have had some very positive responses to the creativity that the bricks express.

Back in late May, and again in late June, our teaching and support staff was allowed a 'tour' of the inside - and each time, we came away with more expressions of gratitude and excitement.  We look forward to work being completed in the Fall - and all that it will mean to us to be living inside this beautiful structure.

We have a confirmed 'BLESSING CEREMONY" date with Archbishop Miller for Sunday, October 4 at 2:00 - all are welcome to join us for this, the third blessing of a school for our Parish School.

Over the course of the coming month, parishioners, donors, alumni and friends will begin to receive announcments inviting them to a variety of OPENING CELEBRATIONS that are being planned by our Faith and Foundation team.  Watch for bulletins and invitations, and please, mark you calendars and come and join us.

Thank you for your patience - and please keep our construction crews in your prayers and all the work that is being done to 'create a school all bright and new'.

Always starting at the beginning...

is where you can find our children as each day begins with prayer.  Today in our grade 7 prayer circle others in our community joined our students:  their parents, principal and visiting priest.

This particular day, following prayer,  the Grade 7's joined with students from Vancouver Talmud Torah School and other young students representing the Ismali community as we traveled to the Downtown East side to demonstrate our concern and compassion for some of the needy in our City.

 

In advance of our visit, all three communities had gathered items that would be helpful, Tim Hortons provided lunches and drinks and matching hats were given to all those involved.  We learned many things today and are grateful to have been included in this simple gesture of food and friendship with young people of other Faith.

 

Oh, happy day...

when the bricks started to arrive.  Beginning today, March 11, 2015... 30 pallets of bricks arrived on our property, and are neatly stored away - awaiting hundreds of more pallets over the coming month!
We are so excited that this very public phase of our project is soon to begin - and we've been told that we can expect the southern face of the new school to receive the first bricks.  You can be certain that we'll all be watching as the bricks begin to wrap around our new building very soon.

Looking up... and a weekend update

During Thursday's TOP OUT ceremony, a celebratory wreath was hung from the rooftop of our school on the Arbutus side of our new building.  Take a look way up when you next pass by...

Also, on yesterday's beautiful sunny Saturday, window installers worked throughout the day to set in place a number of classroom windows on the south side of the building.  We are pretty certain that every day we will both see and hear changes which point to so much progress.

A view from the top... at the "top out" party!

Those in the know, ensured that our Parish hosted a TOP OUT PARTY today to celebrate the closing of the roof, and thank the trades that are working on our site.  At the gathering, held on the 3rd floor in the area facing south, were Father Andrzej, our Building Committee, leaders from our contractors, Yellowridge, our architect, other invited guests, our Owner's Representative and many people from the trades that are currently working on the site. Vic Vela organized a great Greek lunch for all, and accumulated prizes were shared with the workers as another sign of our thanks.

The photos represent views from the 3rd floor, both looking east, and south.  (The view from way up there is amazing - and I can hardly wait till everyone can walk inside what has been dreamed of, planned for and created by everyone's generosity.)

We keep the workers in our continual prayers - and thank all our donors for helping us get this far!

Progress Photos

From the 7th Avenue corner into the Resource Room on the second floor

 Looking south on 7th Avenue into the entrance way and at the Multipurpose Room on second floor

A faithful reader of this BLOG nudged me today to pick up the story for our readers, which she's been keeping up with over the course of the past fifteen months... Apologies to all for the month of quiet; we assure you that the only part of school-life that is quiet is the BLOG!  Life in School and outside on our side continues to be vibrant, ever-changing and filled with newness.

Our staff has been working hard to expand opportunities for PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, and you can read our FRONT PAGE website stories to get a flavour for insights into some of the adventures that we've been able to provide for our students.  There have been skating, curling, bowling, and walking stories in abundance - and with four and a half months left in the school year, there will be many more to come.

On our building site, January was consumed with a visible transition with the removal of the forming materials and containers,  finishing of the roof pouring this past week, and the beginning of the framing for soon-to-be-installed windows.  Insulation has begun to arrive in huge bundles and some has been installed on the south facing walls.

Now we can actually see through the window frames from the south to the northern most classrooms, and the resource area on the east wall of the school is now boldly open and causing much excitement as we all are envisioning what is to come.

We will include some photos from January over the weekend, and then this coming week, I'll get some photos of 'up close' shots.

The School is hosting its annual ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, Monday the 16 of February for all new and returning parents.  There will be a presentation by our building committee included in the meeting. 

We will be reaching our ONE YEAR mark this coming week - thanks to everyone who is working hard to see this big task completed.

 

 

 

2015 - The Year of the New School!

My last entry in December showed the preparation for pouring concrete for the roof of our new school, and on December 18, the vast majority of the roof pour was successfully completed.  Over the past three weeks, there has been a combination of very wet and dry days - and the final pour of concrete will take place on January 14, 2015.
According to the contractors, soon after the interior supporting polls will be removed next, and then a flurry of inside work will really intensify.

Over the holidays, a very small group of us had a 'tour' of the inside of the school - and we were all a bit awed to be walking on the three floors, seeing how the layout actually 'feels' from the inside, and taking in the awesome views from the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building.

Last night, we hosted our annual "Interested New Parents" meeting - and it was so wonderful to be able to share with potential new families that we will be able to add a 2nd Kindergarten class for the Fall of 2015.  Seeing the faces of eager, expectant and hopeful parents knowing that we will be able to meet many of their dreams for Catholic education really touched me deeply - it was one of the many signs we've been given that affirms why we are building a "SCHOOL ALL BRIGHT AND NEW". 

Thank you everyone for your support.