Fate of private girls' school in Westmount uncertain after cancelled lease

The parents of about 600 girls at the Villa Sainte-Marcelline in Westmount say they're in disbelief after learning last week the school's lease won't be renewed next year.

In a letter to parents last Thursday, the administration said its still determining next steps after learning the congregation of nuns that owns the building won't be renewing the lease of the private French-language school for girls next year.

"It came out of nowhere. It really sent a shock wave throughout the Villa Sainte-Marcelline community," said Nina Gonzalez Bychkova, who attended the school as a girl and whose daughter, Maya, now attends in Grade 5 there.

"She has been stressed, she has been anxious, she has been sad ... I've been there trying to comfort her as best as I can."

Having been there since pre-school, Maya Kent Bychkova has a hard time imagining anything else for herself.

"It felt like everything was normal but it just had that little feeling that it's not exactly the same thing," she said, describing the first few days at school after hearing the news.

"It makes me feel sad. I really don't want that to happen ... I don't know if I'll see my friends again."

Aging building needs urgent repairs

The school's board of directors will be voting on whether to close the school this Thursday.

"The activities of the Villa Sainte-Marcelline will continue as they normally do, and this in no way calls into question the course of the current school year," the administration wrote in a statement. "We will spare no effort to ensure the well-being and success of our students and their teachers."

In another letter to parents on Friday, the school's foundation and its parent and alumni associations said it was only two days prior that the administration itself learned of the congregation's decision.

In a statement, the congregation said it was left with no other choice.

"Faced with building safety issues and the inability to pay or raise the necessary funds to finance the work to be done, the Congregation of the Nuns of Sainte-Marcelline was faced with the moral obligation to make the painful decision to send Villa Sainte-Marcelline a notice of non-renewal of their lease," the statement read.

"We're very sensitive to the repercussions of this announcement on the students, their parents and all the school staff," the congregation added, saying it's in mourning over the situation.

Founded more than 60 years ago

The Soeurs de Sainte-Marcelline founded the school in Westmount in 1959, which today provides pre-school, elementary and high school education to its students.

The congregation originates from Italy, where the first of such schools was first founded in Milan in 1838.

Elliott Soifer is a father of two girls at the school and said this is the first he's ever heard of such serious problems in the building.

"This communication runs contrary to everything that we've expected from the school," said Soifer, who also sits on the school's foundation.

"The values [of] Marcelline were not present in the way this was communicated to us."

It's been a nightmare for parents who might have to find a new school for their children with applications for the next academic year now closed as well, he said.

Isabelle Roy sits on the school's board and alumni association, and said the entire community is doing everything it can to save the school, including fundraising.

"I'm very confident there are still several options available right now, and I can tell you many of us are working non-stop to evaluate every option," she said. "We, several directors on the board, will vote against the closure."