Deborah and Tomas Dosil have lived in downtown Victoria for eight years, and they want their children to attend a downtown elementary school. There is only one: Christ Church Cathedral School, nestled in a heritage building on Vancouver Street.
Their daughter, now in Grade 2, has blossomed in the small, close-knit community with its 鈥済reat teachers and great families,鈥� Deborah says after the first week of school. 鈥淚t was a huge transition聽for her at school, and they were phenomenal in helping her.鈥�
Its location so close to their home has been a mixed blessing. It鈥檚 in the heart of a capital city, but during its 25th year, it has had to weather being around the corner from a tent city of homeless people that was dismantled only a month ago. Christ Church鈥檚 tuition-paying parents now worry about sa国际传媒 Housing Minister Rich聽Coleman鈥檚 stated wish to see 100聽homeless people permanently sheltered at Mount Edwards Court, 18 paces away from the kindergarten to Grade 8 school.
鈥淲e always felt quite secure in the school,鈥� Deborah says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely aware of it all and had concerns. But we were never concerned enough to take our daughter out.
鈥淲e actually feel really good coming into this year,鈥� she says, cradling her infant son and keeping an eye on her daughter in the playground. As to the controversy about so many nearby homeless people 鈥� with the attendant mental shealth, addiction and security anxieties 鈥� 鈥渨e felt that the school dealt with it really well.鈥�
Not every parent agrees 鈥� some hoped the school would explore relocation 鈥� but several parents watching their kids at play make it clear they are happy to have their kids back at Christ Church for its 26th year.
Enrolment is down over last year, but the school is entering a 鈥渧ery optimistic鈥� phase, says principal Stuart Hall. 鈥淭here were crises going on around us, in the media and in the streets. I鈥檓 happy to say things have settled down.鈥�
Hall laments the loss of some longtime students and families.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great school, and it hurts when the community is diminished in any way,鈥� he says. The usual waiting list for kindergarten to Grade 3 enrolment has been replaced by 鈥渁 few spots鈥� for education in small classes that can be filled at any time in the school calendar.
Interest in enrolling very young children 鈥済ot quiet at a critical time of year,鈥� he acknowledges, something that he attributes to the 鈥渦ncertainties鈥� of the past year. He doesn鈥檛 want to get into specific numbers, but there are a few too many empty spots, given that most children are enrolled at age five and remain until high school.
The current student body is 188, with 14 new students signed up since the end of June at tuition of $640 a month 鈥� about half that charged by what he calls the top-tier independent schools in town. Enrolment has never been as high as 200.
鈥淧eople have confidence in this school,鈥� Hall says, citing its academic program, its sense of community and its proximity to everything from Beacon Hill Park to the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum.
Unlike in many independent schools, boys and girls share classes, limited in size to 19 to 24聽students; Victoria public school limits are 22 to 30 for kindergarten to Grade 8.
There鈥檚 of course a Christian component to the education 鈥� sited as it is on the same block as Christ Church Anglican Cathedral 鈥� although people of all faiths or no faith are welcome.
The children hear stories from the Bible to learn the very important lesson about loving their neighbours as they love themselves, he says. 鈥淚t is important to live this tenet in our daily lives. I think that over the past year we鈥檝e all learned some very important lessons about respecting each other.鈥�
School parent Debbie Stevens-Reznick calls Christ Church 鈥渢he best little school in the city,鈥� but she and her husband decided it was no longer the best place for their son who had attended since Grade 3, because of security issues. 鈥淲e enrolled him somewhere else, but he wanted to stay to graduate,鈥� she says outside the stately stone edifice after the first week of school. And they left it to him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a small school, so it鈥檚 quite fragile,鈥� adds mother Brenda Beattie, who is relieved that tent city has disbanded. Her Grade 8 daughter calls Christ Church 鈥渧ery cosy鈥� and says she does not feel unsafe. But several of her daughter鈥檚 classmates did not return this year.
Built in 1923 as a memorial to parishioners who died in the First World War, Christ Church makes its home in a Gothic Revival heritage building complemented by giant sequoias in the fenced-in play area. A security guard from Mount Edwards Court wanders to a corner across Rockland Avenue, but all is peaceful and quiet. In June, the province paid for a security guard at the school; Hall hasn鈥檛 seen one so far this year.
Victoria Cool Aid Society officials who manage Mount Edwards have been 鈥渙pen and helpful, and they鈥檝e made adjustments when I鈥檝e raised concerns, absolutely,鈥� Hall says.
鈥淚鈥檓 very relieved that tent city has been resolved to the satisfaction of the neighbourhood, the school but also for the residents of tent city,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned a lot more than I thought possible about parent values, homelessness, and the ways and means of government and politics.鈥�
He commends the province for taking major steps to house tent-city residents, calling it 鈥渁 big deal鈥� and also credited not-for-profit organizations and service-providers still in the neighbourhood as 鈥渁 real network of caring.鈥�
Still, as far as Hall knows, no other school in sa国际传媒 is adjacent to a housing project for homeless people. Which is why a group of Christ Church parents approached the Capital Regional District鈥檚 finance committee last week, encouraging municipalities to adopt policies that would bar social housing within 200 metres of a school.
A $60-million Capital Regional District housing strategy calls for at least 440 units of subsidized housing and 440 units of market-rental units to be created in partnership with the province over the next five years.
The school itself should have considered relocation, said one father who chose to remove his two young children from Christ Church.
鈥淲e would have gladly stayed if the school had initiated an alternative site-planning process,鈥� he said in an email about why the children did not return. 鈥淭he school has a wonderful ethos and philosophy and a fantastic teaching staff, but the general deteriorating community environment culminating in ongoing issues related to drugs and mental health was what forced our hand. This is an issue about the well-being of children and what can be considered as a safe, secure and nurturing learning environment.鈥�
Being downtown, his children witnessed people injecting drugs, suffering from what looked like delirium, drug-dealing, beatings between street people and an awful lot of profane language.
Hall says there have been a few issues of concern over the months, but nothing he wants to get into.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a downtown school, so there are going to be incidents.鈥�
His own granddaughter attends Christ Church, where he has been principal for six years. 鈥淚鈥檓 invested in the school 100 per cent.鈥�
As for the idea of low-barrier housing for 100 homeless people at Mount Edwards, he is 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� not in favour.
鈥淣o, I would rather see a different use, still meeting the needs of the homeless, but a different segment of the population. For example, the elderly or single-parent families or maybe youth transitioning out of government care.鈥�
Hall talks of challenges, not stresses, but it鈥檚 probably safe to say few other principals have had to juggle the competing interests he faces鈥� running an independent school that is not elitist, is Christian in response to homeless people but appreciative of the concerns of paying parents at various points on the anxiety spectrum.
Moreover, capital region parents have a wide range of independent schools to choose from, along with public schools that allow students from other catchment areas to attend.
Deborah Begoray, a professor in the University of Victoria鈥檚 faculty of education, agrees that Christ Church school faces what might be a unique balancing act. She can鈥檛 think of another school in her experience with so many considerations involved 鈥渁nd I did some digging around.鈥�
鈥淚t certainly is very challenging, but often challenges come with big rewards attached,鈥� says Begoray, a research fellow at UVic鈥檚 Centre for Youth and Society.
鈥淭he new sa国际传媒 curriculum calls for deep inquiry,鈥� she points out, and finding out more about the people who live in Mount Edwards strikes her as a way into 鈥渨onderful personalized learning鈥� for students at Christ Church and other, more sheltered schools, as long as safety concerns are addressed.
Children who develop empathy and sympathy through such experience could find their academic achievement also improves, she says.
鈥淲hat a valuable lesson for kids to learn that there aren鈥檛 any simple answers.鈥�
There are sure to be a lot of good people living in Mount Edwards, she says, and from the sounds of it, an enlightened group at Christ Church, and she sounds confident that together they could聽work things out in the neighbourhood.
