École Victor-Brodeur is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

first language K-12 school located in Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. It is designed to accommodate 540 students from the

Greater Victoria Greater Victoria (also known as the Greater Victoria Region) is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) ...

area and to serve as a community centre for the local

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

community. It was named for Royal Canadian Navy officer

Victor Brodeur Rear-Admiral Victor Gabriel Brodeur, CB, CBE, CD (September 17, 1892 – October 6, 1976) was a Royal Canadian Navy officer. He was a member of the first batch of cadets accepted into the RCN and the first French speaker to reach the rank of rea ...

, who was one of the first "group of six" officer cadets accepted into the RCN and also one of the 3% of Quebec born officers to reach the rank of Rear Admiral. The school is operated by the Conseil Scolaire Francophone (CSF), the public school district that represents francophone students throughout the province. The school is the second-largest such school in B.C. and also operates a pre-school and a before- and after-school student care program. The school district has a partnership agreement with the municipality of Esquimalt to share the use of school and nearby municipal facilities, including the school's theatre, gym, basketball courts, field, and kitchen, as well as the public recreation centre, Archie Browning Arena, and Bullen Park.

History

École Victor-Brodeur was formed from the 1985 merger of the two local Francophone schools, the "Programme Cadre de français" at Uplands Elementary School in nearby Oak Bay and a school for the children of the military at CFB Esquimalt. The newly formed school occupied the old Harbour View School with 207 students. During construction of the new facility, the school operated temporarily in Richmond School and Uplands Elementary School. The school is named after ''Victor-Gabriel Brodeur'', a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in the RCN who served at the Esquimalt military base.

Facilities and Programs

The current school is a replacement school of the same name and was completed in January 2007 at a cost of $19 million which was provided by the provincial and federal governments. It was designed by Marceau Evans Johnson Architects to be "eco-friendly" and incorporates many

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

features, including a highly efficient mechanical system, a rainscreen envelope, an emphasis on the use of natural light, environmentally friendly materials, and permeable paving. The project earned a

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

Silver rating. The school also hosts the studios of

CILS-FM CILS-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 107.9 FM in Victoria, British Columbia. Branded as ''Radio Victoria'', the station airs a community radio format for the region's Franco-Columbian community. The station was licensed by t ...

(Radio Victoria), the Victoria-Esquimalt region's francophone community radio station, which itself collaborates with the school on media and journalism education programs for students. The school offers high school students the option to complete the International Baccalaureate program either through certificates or the diploma. International Baccalaureate Logo

References

External links

http://brodeur.csf.bc.ca/ School websitehttp://www.achievebc.ca/spt/school.aspx?id=9361060 Achieve BCCanada Green Building CouncilDND article
* Photo of Victor G. Brodeur
La Société francophone de VictoriaDistrict of Sooke - ''Regional Innovative Rainwater Management Examples''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor-Brodeur Elementary schools in British Columbia High schools in Victoria, British Columbia French-language schools in British Columbia Educational institutions established in 1985 1985 establishments in British Columbia