A tell-tale sign that summer is over is that young Jasperites are heading back to school.

For École Desrochers students, school started bright and early Monday morning while Jasper Elementary and Jr./Sr. High School students head back Thursday, Sept 3.

École Desrochers welcomed a new portable that will give the school much needed space, and easier access as well, said principal Marie-Claude Faucher.

Faucher has returned from maternity leave and welcomes a couple new teachers to replace some that left at the end of the 2008/9 school year.

While she’s back from maternity leave, Marie-France Miron has gone on maternity leave so her replacement is Angeline Gadoury-Boisse. Luc-Andre Leclerc is the school’s new high school math and physics teacher and Helene Caron is replacing Suzanne Caron, who is on leave for five months. 

There are no new hires for the elementary school, who start Thursday, but they are welcoming back some old faces with Kathryn Howe, Grade 3 French Immersion and Tammy Anderson as an educational assistant returning.

Principal Raymond Blanchette-Dube is already looking forward to January when the school will have Peter Puffin for a week long residency over a two-week period.

“It’s incredible we’ve been able to get funding through Alberta Fine Arts every two years,” Blanchette-Dube said.

The elementary school will also kick-start their active lives by having their annual running club, where the children hit the trails – first around the school and then further out of town – with local identities joining them.

“We invited community members like Mayor Richard Ireland for example to come running for a day with us... that way the kids can look towards them that they also run and it’s about building those community relationships,” he said. 

Jasper Jr./Sr. High school Principal Mark Crozier could not be reached before press time.