Janitors at French school get full marks as 'happy' students settle in months after Fiona

It all seems like a blur now, says Wayne Robichaud, head janitor at École Évangéline in Abram-Village, P.E.I.

But seven months after post-tropical storm Fiona ripped the school apart, leaving a huge hole in the roof and water pouring down on the desks, computers and musical instruments, life is somewhat back to normal for students, teachers and staff.

"People are happy," Robichaud said during a recent interview on a bustling school day.

"Listen to the kids. The kids, like, kind of roll with everything. Nothing seems to [faze] them. The adults were pretty happy to be here. They seemed a lot more stressed out than the kids. Teachers were happy to be back in a real school, I think."

They've been back at the École Évangéline for a couple months, after spending the first half of the school year in makeshift classrooms at the local rink and music hall.

It's a bit crowded, as all the students from kindergarten to Grade 12 are sharing a space that used to be just for the high schoolers. The soap dispensers and paper towel holders in the bathrooms had to be lowered for the younger students.

"It's definitely been a lot different," said Jill Adams, a Grade 7 student. "There's a lot more people in the hallways and we're always, like, bumping into people."

It has been an emotional time for the residents of Abram-Village. The first part of École Évangéline was built in 1960. Many of the residents, including Robichaud, were students at the school.

When Robichaud went to the school the morning after the storm, he said it looked like a bomb had exploded.

You just kind of go into a mode of, 'OK, well, you know, what can we do?'— Wayne Robichaud

"You'd see like all the desks were just all there, no roof, and all the laptops are just sitting on the desks and you'd go look into the music room and all the guitars and all the fiddles and all the pianos are just sitting there, just being drenched and you know, having you know, this ceiling tiles all on top of them," he said.

"You just kind of go into a mode of, 'OK, well, you know, what can we do?'"

Teachers and students are praising Robichaud and the other janitors for rising to the occasion. Adams said she's grateful for all they do to keep the students safe.

'Our go-to'

Principal Dominique Morency said there have been a lot of demands on the custodial staff through the transition.

"So, 'I want this, I want that, what do we do?'... and they were always thinking of a solution," she said.

"If you take off the custodians from school, well good luck.They are experts of knowing where's what, what we do, 'How do we deal with this situation?' And so they were … our go-to."

Robichaud said the transition back to the school went smoother than it did moving out because they were doing it all again, only in reverse.

"It seems like a blur now, but when I start to think back of all the things that we had to get done…. Anyway, it got done. It was just, it was kind of crazy. It was tough on everybody, but everybody was just kind of going on."

The province has said a new school will be built at the location within the next few years. While there is still work to be done at the existing school in the meantime, students like Brooklyn Richard who are in their graduation year.

"I'm really happy to be back, especially Grade 12. I get to finish my year in the school that I've always been in."