This text is part of the special Public School booklet
Outside of Montreal, alternative schools after elementary school are a rare commodity. The opening of the secondary component of the École de l’Énergie in Shawinigan, the first of its kind in Mauricie, opens the leads to the development of the alternative model for adolescents throughout the province.
“It’s a dream I’ve had for 18 years. These students allow us to experience a great project that we are building together,” says Stéphane Robitaille, director of the École de l’Énergie (from kindergarten to secondary school) and of the alternative elementary school in La Tortue-des-bois, in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc. Thanks to a group of parents from the two primary schools, who wanted to see their children pursue the alternative route after sixth grade, a secondary school project with an alternative vocation was submitted to the council of commissioners of the school board in January 2020.
Two years later, the public establishment, whose premises are attached to those of the primary school, was inaugurated. Like the educational vision of its director, the infrastructures are based on sharing, collaboration and hierarchical decompartmentalization.
“This project mobilizes a school service centre, a school administration and teachers who believe in it: we all choose to join,” says Mr. Robitaille. With only an architect’s plan in hand and a vision in mind, the school team was able to convince the parents of the 20 students who form the first class of 1D secondary school. Each year, an additional level will be added. Eventually, the establishment will accommodate a maximum of 140 students at all levels. “It will be a secondary school on a human scale”, underlines the director.
At the moment, the secondary school component of the Energy compyou two teachers who share all the subjects, and a specialized educator. It must be said that, of the cohort in place, half of the students have an intervention plan for an autism spectrum disorder, anxiety or dyslexia. “We are going to make these students succeed at their own pace, and we are here to reach out to them,” says Stéphane Robitaille, who specifies that his establishment is not a school aimed at the elite.
The alternative model places the student at the center of learning projects. Through a multidisciplinary approach that listens to young people, proximity to the teaching staff and strong parental participation (qualified as compulsory by the management), the students take part in setting up their course.
At the School of Energy, we split the day in two. The morning is intended for the teaching of basic subjects (French, English, mathematics) by focusing on peer learning and self-study. The afternoon is devoted to open learning periods (OPA), which can take several forms: outdoor outings, day courses, robotics, artistic activities and, if necessary, individual or sub-group mentoring. . The idea is above all to ensure that these moments are planned by the students.
“They have a unique curriculum. We take into account their interests, their tastes and their passions to create enthusiasm and commitment to their learning. We also equip the students to come up with an idea, plan, carry out and complete a project,” explains Mr. Robitaille.
Friday afternoons are devoted to debates, and volunteering is part of the school curriculum.
“The objective is to make our students citizens capable of discussing and criticizing, but also of bringing ideas to school administrators, municipal councillors, deputies… These are students that we want to be active in a democratic community,” says the director, who meets with the students once or twice a week to take the pulse of their achievements and their ease in this unique school environment.
The establishment wishes to develop much more than academic skills: cooperation, community involvement and problem solving, for example, are worked on in other ways, in particular through outdoor outings planned by the students. At the end of their 5e secondary, they should be able to organize a five-day excursion in the forest completely independently.
In the years to come, the school team hopes to open a new gymnasium and develop more partnerships with the City of Shawinigan and the preschool and elementary school components, in particular through the Creative Robotics Lab. At the open house on October 23 — obviously organized by the whole school, parents and students included — Stéphane Robitaille will be able to present much more than an architect’s plan.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, relating to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.