Description

École L'Odyssée is a public francophone high school in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is part of the province's Francophone Sud School District, offering education to students from grade nine to twelve. The school opened on September 30, 2005 as part of a $24.2 million project, alongside the adjoining middle school, École Le Mascaret. École L'Odyssée was conceived as a way to alleviate the overcrowding problem at École Mathieu-Martin in nearby Dieppe, a problem the district has had in the past. The Odyssée-Mascaret project, as well as the future Carrefour de l'Acadie middle school, replaced the former École Beauséjour and École Vanier complexes. This move allowed the Moncton Hospital to expand, while the Vanier establishment made way for medical offices. On September 9, 2009, the school was given permission to begin an $884,000 expansion for its far side, allowing for a larger space to be reserved for its infirmary and orientation center.As of September 2010, the school holds 767 students out of its capacity of 850, compared to 971 students at École Mathieu-Martin. It is the only French high school in Moncton.HistoryAs Moncton's population grew over the years, overcrowding in high schools soon became a problem: in the 2004 - 05 school year, École Mathieu-Martin - the sole francophone high school in the area - had an enrolment of 1,609 students, well above the 2009 - 2010 enrolment of 1,025. When the city's growth rate climbed from 5% in the years 1991 - 96 to 6.5% in the years 2001 - 06, the problem became even more apparent. In fact, prior to construction, the idea of a second francophone complex had been in the minds of the New Brunswick Department of Education since as early as December 20, 2002. This idea was later confirmed in New Brunswick's record-breaking $809 million budget for the 2003 - 04 fiscal year, where $100,000 was allocated to "develop the educational specifications" of the complex. Originally, the project was code named "Moncton School Complex" (Complexe Scolaire de Moncton).