École secondaire du Versant

Infobox_Education_in_Canada
name= École secondaire du Versant


streetaddress= 808 Boulevard de la Cite
city= Gatineau
province= Quebec
postalcode= J8R 3S8
areacode= 819
phone= 243-1144
fax= 243-4408
url= http://www.csdraveurs.qc.ca/versant/index.htm
schoolnumber=
schoolboard= Commission Scolaire des Draveurs
principal= Francois Berube
viceprincipal= Claire Le May, Jocelyne Leblanc & Gilles Morisset
custodian=
schooltype= High school
grades= Secondary 1-5
language= French
founded= 2002
enrollment= about 1400 students
lastupdate=

École secondaire du Versant (English: du Versant Secondary School) is a public secondary school located in Gatineau, Quebec. It is located on Boulevard de la Cité at the corner of Boulevard La Verendrye in the Gatineau sector and is operated by the Commission Scolaire des Draveurs school board.

The school is the most recent Francophone high school built in the city. The move was to reduced over-population at other Gatineau sector schools particularly at the Polyvalente Le Carrefour located a few minutes south and Polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau located a few minutes to the east. The school board chose a large vacant land currently under development near the Gatineau Hospital to built the new high school and opened on November 12, 2002 with initially 825 students. Initially, students from du Versant started the 2002-2003 school year at the Polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau before moving to their new location. [ cite news | author = Belanger, Matthieu | title = L'école du Versant ouvrira ses portes le 12 novembre (New School will open on November 12) | publisher = Le Droit | date = 2002-10-24 | page = 4 ] [ cite news | author = Bertrand, Jean-Francois | title = L'école du Versant a été bien accueillie à Nicolas-Gatineau (du Versant school warmly greeted at Nicolas-Gatineau) | publisher = Le Droit | date = 2002-09-05 | page = 18 ] The current student enrollment is approximately 1 200 students and the school has a capacity of about 1 500 students.

Logo & Name designation

The name of the school was chosen following a contest involving the population within the Commission Scolaire des Draveurs jurisdiction territory (the Gatineau sector) in which they suggested different names for the new school. The suggestion "du Versant" from a Polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau Secondary 4 student was chosen for geographical reasons as the school's location on a steep cliff gives a great view of most of the city of Gatineau and Ottawa just across the Ottawa River.

The school's logo was design by an info graph student at the Centre Competence Outaouais, an institution giving professional and technical formation.

Facts

* The Le Transit program is a measure helping students with formation and academic problems.

* Santé Plein Air and Arts de la Rue are two concentration programs for high-skilled students

* Due to the proximity of the school near a large artery, there were safety concerns due to the high speed limit of 70 KM/H. It was reduced to 50 KM/H, with school signs and traffic lights added eight months after its opening. Temporary lights were installed for a certain period [ cite news | author = Boivin, Mathieu | title = L'école du Versant attendra huit mois avant d'avoir son feu de circulation (Du Versant will wait eight months before having a traffic light signal) | publisher = Le Droit | date = 2002-11-22 | page = 11 ]

* Each December, there is an annual dinner organized by the city's media community including members of CHOT-TV television station. Proceeds from the event goes to local charities across the Outaouais region.

* Each April, the school organized a homelessness night in which students werebuilding cardboard houses outside to sleep for one night to initiate people on the issues of poverty and homelessness.

External links

* [http://www.csdraveurs.qc.ca/versant/ Du Versant's Website]

References