What are Don Bosco schools, and why is one opening in Market Square in Saint John?

A red-carpet welcome from local politicians and economic development agencies, and a lease with favourable terms from Saint John's Hardman Group, both factored in the decision to open the new K-12 international French school in Saint John in fall 2024.

The Lycée International Français des Provinces Atlantiques located at the former New Brunswick Museum in uptown Saint John, is part of the Don Bosco network of French private schools. Don Bosco schools operate in 37 countries worldwide.

In March 2021, a delegation from New Brunswick met with French President Emmanuel Macron, said Paulette Hicks, CEO of the regional development agency Envision Saint John.

In that meeting, she said, it was determined it was "an anomaly that we did not have a Lycée in Atlantic Canada."

Macron then approached the Don Bosco network of schools about where a potential school might fit in New Brunswick.

Marie Langlois, who is handling project development for the new school, said the organization first considered more predominantly French-speaking locations, including Moncton, when it was approached by the French embassy.

But a visit by school CEO Sylvain Olivier to Saint John during Memorial Cup festivities in June helped seal the deal, she said.

"When we arrived in Saint John, the mayor and all the mayor's team were very efficient in making us feel so welcome here," Hicks said. "This was very important to create the project, and start the project.

"We realize that only two per cent of the population here is francophone. But New Brunswick is the only bilingual province in Canada, which is very important.

"[Olivier] came to New Brunswick in June, and actually all through Atlantic Canada, to look at the locations and consider culture,  people and community. And he just felt it was right."

Smaller francophone population

Southwest New Brunswick has fewer French speakers than any other region in New Brunswick.

Just two per cent of francophones live in the Saint John-St. Stephen region, according to a 2020 infographic from New Brunswick's Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

WATCH | A look inside plans for a new French K-12 school in Saint John's Market Square:

By contrast, 41 per cent live in Campbellton-Miramichi, and 36 per cent in Moncton-Richibucto.

There are already two French schools in greater Saint John: Millidgeville's Centre scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain, a K-12 school with just over 700 students, and École des Pionniers in Quispamsis, which has 171 students from K-5.

"We believe that our project and our school will promote bilingualism," Langlois said.

Hicks said the school will attract up to 900 students and just under 100 faculty by the time it's at full size.

"Of the 900 students, half of them, 450, will come from France, and they expect to ramp at full capacity within five years. Fifty percent will be from Atlantic Canada, including New Brunswick."

Anticipated enrolment in the first year is 290 students.

"Families will move here with their kids, and then some will be billeted," Hicks said. "So it very much is community-driven."

No government funding

While Premier Blaine Higgs and Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon were in attendance at a photo op when the school was announced this week, Langlois said the project did not receive funding from the provincial, federal or municipal government.

"The only partner would be the Hardman Group that owns the building, and we will lease the school from them," said Langlois.

The plan, according to Hicks, is for the school to occupy the existing footprint of the New Brunswick Museum — but more changes to Market Square haven't been ruled out.

"Over the next two months they will work directly with Hardman Group to do the design and finalize the scope of the project," she said.

Teachers from France, $15,500 tuition

Teachers at the school will be recruited from outside New Brunswick, Langlois said.

"We know that there is a lack of teachers here in New Brunswick and more generally in Canada, so the objective is not to steal teachers from the province. We will come with teachers."

In the first year, the school expects 30 teachers and staff to arrive from France.

Annual tuition for families will be $15,500 per year — compared to fees between $25,130 and $27,650 for day students at Rothesday Netherwood School, a private school in nearby Rothesay.

The international school is accredited by the French Ministry of Education, which means its curricula and objectives are the same as in the French education system. Students can continue their education at other French schools without taking an entry examination.

"The curriculum that we are going to teach in the French International School is the same as we teach in France," Langlois said.

Students do not need to speak French to apply, according to the school's admission guidelines.

Don Bosco schools are part of the worldwide Salesian network founded by Don Giovanni Bosco — a 19th-century Italian Catholic priest, educator and saint.

While "religion will have a place per se in the curriculum," Langlois said, "there will not be any obligation. All religions, everyone, is welcome in the school.

Applications open

Renovations to the former museum space will start in the coming year.

"The building has been emptied of the former New Brunswick Museum, and the objective now is to create the classes that we need, labs, and meeting rooms. There is already a conference room that we will save and keep."

Families can submit applications now, according to the school's website.

"We are thrilled to have this project," said Langlois. "We feel at home already here."