The Most Beautiful School Yard in the World
Opening of the "Jardin de Marie-Rose"!
The beginning of the school year at the Externat Mont-Jésus-Marie elementary school was marked by the inauguration of the new school yard, a one-of-a-kind accomplishment for a Quebec elementary school.
Approached to provide ideas for designing their school yard, the 420 students from this institution enthusiastically contributed to this challenge by presenting one project per class, for a total of 15 projects. The result? “The most beautiful school yard in the world” according to comments from some of the students who were pleasantly surprised at the beginning of the school year last fall.
If it was a huge challenge for the students who had to agree on choosing one project from among the creative ideas, the challenge was also extensive for the contractors who had to develop tailor-made games while respecting the concept envisioned by the young people, the constraints of the physical space of the location and the relatively short time span.
The official opening for the parents on September 12th and for the donors on October 29th, served to proudly highlight this outstanding accomplishment. It also made official the naming of this delightful school yard “Jardin de Marie-Rose”, in honor of the foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM), Mother Marie-Rose (Eulalie Durocher).
This joyful time was marked by the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on the site and the presentation of a second plaque by the president of the Fondation des amis and former student from Externat Mont-Jésus-Marie, Mrs. Élyse Léger, to the SNJM Provincial Animator, Sister Denise Riel. This plaque is currently installed in the offices occupied by the Provincial Administration at the Congregational House in Longueuil.
Furthermore, we want to emphasize that in order to improve the school yard which includes a vegetable garden, there is a second worksite. This worksite is dedicated to improving the classrooms and music room.
All this work was carried out between June 15th and the start of the school year in August 2015, a feat which merits an honorable mention for all of its architects, and was made possible thanks to the generous support of donors, among whom is the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.
