Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know you would like to join myself and other Yellowknife MLAs, Mr. Speaker, in congratulating the Separate School Board on 40 years of Catholic education. The board of education for the Yellowknife Catholic schools had its first regular board meeting on July 13, 1951. At this time, there were no schools built and no students. Mr. Norman Byrne was the first chairman of the board, and he worked very hard, with the guidance of Bishop Trocellier, to start this district and to build its schools.
The first school, St. Pat's, was built in 1953. This school was from kindergarten to grade seven. All students from grades eight to 12 went to the public school until St. Pat's High School was built in 1961. In 1964, the original St. Pat's High School burned down and was replaced by the present main building. This building has endured many additions and improvements over the years, consisting of the trailers and portables you now see on the sight.
The original St. Joseph School was built in 1977 and has also had improvements and additions since then. This is a dual track school with grades kindergarten to grade 9 in French immersion and grades K to eight in English.
The staff and students can be very proud of their schools in this district, but they are not stopping with these achievements, Mr. Speaker. In the next few years they are hoping to build a state-of-the -art technology high school that will again be a top-notch school in our district and the Northwest Territories.
The last 40 years for Yellowknife Catholic 'schools have been very positive and forward-looking, and there is a continued vision of success and educational excellence for the future. At the moment, Mr. Speaker, the current enrolments in the district are as follows: St. Pat's Elementary School has 192 students; St. Pat's High School has 373 students; St. Joe's has 191 in the French program and 283 in the English program, for a total of 1039 students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--- Applause