Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter
The Centre de Services Scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands (CSSVT) has seen its student population grow for an eighth straight year, with more than 470 additional students attending classes this September.
In the youth sector, at least 1,277 students started preschool, while 5,951 students were enrolled at the elementary level, and 3,961 at high school. The adult sector has also seen an increase in enrollment, with approximately 463 students at the Centre de Formation Professionnelle du Suroît and nearly 870 students at the Centre de Formation Générale des Adultes des Tisserands.
“This growth reflects the demographic vitality of our region and the confidence that families and adults have in our institutions,” said CSSVT director general Suzie Vranderick. She explained that as preschool registration levels are stable, she attributes the widespread growth to booming demographic trends and the increase in housing developments throughout the Haut-Saint-Laurent, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, and Beauharnois regions.
A total of 24 modular classrooms were added this year to accommodate growing numbers at already crowded schools, bringing the number installed over the past four years up to 82. Vranderick said they have allowed the CSSVT to respond quickly to population growth while waiting on the construction of new schools.
Students attending École Secondaire de la Baie-Saint-François are now able to partially access an expanded section at the Valleyfield-based high school which includes a new gymnasium and classrooms. Vranderick championed the school administration’s creative reorganization of available space within the school over the past several years while waiting on the expansion, which had originally been scheduled for completion in 2023.
Vranderick confirmed the CSSVT has requested the construction of a new 1,000-student high school in Valleyfield, as well as the expansion of Arthur-Pigeon high school in Huntingdon and the École Secondaire des Patriotes de Beauharnois.
Two additional elementary schools are being built in Valleyfield, including one in the Grande-Île sector that is expected to open next year. Construction will start this spring on the second new school, which will be located on the grounds of the existing Frédéric-Gérard elementary school in the La Baie sector.
Vranderick explained that the CSSVT’s infrastructure needs are planned over ten years in advance. She noted this involves working closely with the municipalities within the territory to ensure they keep up with demographic changes and can continue to accommodate new students each year.