The Richmond Review from Richmond, British Columbia, Canada • A16

a 1 6 i i a a 8 2 0 0 7 community Mark Patrick photo Tanis Carter (left to right), Jared Rudek, Amanda Stewart and Michael Neil model Steveston-London Secondary new Shark logo. 200-strong crew put final touches on school by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter It quite a miracle, but neighbours must have been shak- ing their heads in disbelief at the jaw-dropping overnight transfor- mation of newest high school. With classes set to resume on Tuesday, and the newly amalgam- ated Steveston-London Secondary still looking like it was midway through construction last week, the heavy artillery had to be shipped in to put the final touches on the $19-million, addition to Charles E. London Secondary. A company of construction work- ers 200 strong invaded the facility on the Friday before school started and by Sunday, when school district representatives toured the site, the construction area had already been declared a hard-hat free sign it was ready for students.

front entrance is absolute- ly assistant superin- tendent Cathy Thornicroft told trustees Tuesday night at the first school board meeting of the new school year. But still work to be done, Thornicroft said. Not all the mill- work has been completed, and some sections not expected to be ready for the start of the year, have yet to be finished. Passersby the only ones wondering whether the school would be done on time. been wondering, are the kids gonna be able to get in trustee Donna Sargent said.

The school boasts an eco-friendly design, including a geo-thermal heating and cooling system, and dis- trict staff are hoping it will receive the gold would be a first among Canadian Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a pro- gram that recognizes the best in environmentally-responsible facil- ity design. Among the other eco-friendly design features are: a polished-smooth concrete floor that never needs waxing, which should cut down on main- tenance costs; concrete used in constructing parts of the school comprise 50 per cent fly ash, a byproduct of coal burning; the overhead wooden architec- tural feature outside the front entrance is made of recy- cled wood timbers from the old Richmond High; school boasts energy-efficient high-intensity lighting; an emphasis on natural lighting, with windows everywhere, includ- ing the gymnasium, so the lights always have to be flipped on just to see inside. New Steveston-London school opened in the nick of time Close-up of the Sharks logo. Night school students in the dark Program not accepting students until clarification comes on school fees by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter The July announcement by the B.C. Ministry of Education that fees can no longer be collected from students taking summer school could also impact night school course offerings.

Richmond School District superintendent Bruce Beairsto said at Tuesday school board meet- ing that the 30-year practice of charging summer school fees is now at an end. Refunds for students who paid out of their own pockets for this upgrade or on the way, he said. will be chasing people down for Beairsto said, referring to the challenge of finding students who have changed their credit card number, telephone number or moved to another address. The Richmond School District offers high school night classes for people looking to finish Grade 12. Concerned about the implications the school fee moratorium will have on night school classes, new registrants who would have been charged a fee be accepted until some clarifica- tion from the government, he said.

Summer school and night school are no different other than the time of day the classes are taken, he noted, and so the district suspects the rules that apply to summer school fees will apply to night school as well. Those already registered be impacted, but he said that without being able to charge fees, night school may be taken away as an option unless a funding alternative can be found. As for the future of summer school, Beairsto said the district is in a Trustee Donna Sargent said clarification around summer school fees should be addressed as soon as possible. think this needs to be a top she said. For students who wanted to take summer school, but afford it, only to learn that it would have been free, the situation is on haves and Sargent said.

Summer school is extremely popular in Richmond, and not just for students who have failed classes. Thousands of teens seeking to get ahead are taking condensed version of courses, accord- ing to Michael Khoo, director of instruction for Richmond Continuing Education. This year, almost 2,500 local students, or more than 20 per cent of the high school student population (10,443 in enrolled in summer school. About 1,500 students signed up for an academic full-credit program, which comprises three-and-a- half hour classes on a single subject, five days a week for six weeks. Another 500 students, who received grades between 40 and 49 per cent, took remedial courses this summer.

Some 95 per cent of students taking remedial last one and a half hours per day, five days per week for four Another 1,000 took academic previews, he said. certainly a busy.