School’s out forever at Ecole George Pringle Elementary in West Kelowna with the last assembly held Wednesday amid a mood that was both celebratory and a little bit sad.
Kids, teachers, and parents gathered to mark the closing of the school, which dates back to 1949. It will be demolished this fall with a new high school opening on the site in downtown Westbank in a few years.
“The thing I’m going to miss most about GPE is . . . everything,” Grade 5 student Tanner Harper said wistfully during a video montage played during the assembly.
Most of the 405 students wore outfits of yellow-and-blue, the school colours, and recently retired music teacher Joe Lajoie returned to lead a few rousing renditions of his own compositions, one of which he said he wrote 40 years ago.
Older kids offered tips on life to their younger schoolmates, advising them to avoid doing things like throwing balls on the roof, with a few serious bits of advice delivered as well: “Never give up. Always keep trying,” one student said.
The school’s mascot was a lion and its motto emphasized pride, a theme touched on by principal Sylvain Guignard as he choked up while addressing teachers: “You should be proud of yourselves for helping shape these fine children,” Guignard said.
Illustrating the school’s long history and central role in Westside life over more than seven decades, Guignard played ‘(Ghost) Riders in the Sky’, which was the most popular song when the school opened in 1949.
When the school was converted from a high school to an elementary school in 2003, Guignard said, the most popular song was rapper 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’. “Which, obviously, we can’t play here today,” he joked.
Some community controversy attended the trustees’ decision to demolish George Pringle and use the land for a new high school to ease overcrowding at Mount Boucherie Senior Secondary, currently West Kelowna’s only high school.
“We looked at so many sites, but in the end this was our only option,” board chair Moyra Baxter, who was in attendance at the assembly, said in an interview. “It’s always difficult when you’re close to a school.”
The stand-alone gym where the assembly was held will survive the school’s pending demolition, and be one of two gyms at the new high school. It could also be something of a community center for West Kelowna, Baxter said.
This fall, GPE students will be directed to Glenrosa Elementary, Hudson Road Elementary, or Webber Road Elementary, the re-opening of which was necessitated by rising district enrolment, depending on where they live and if they’re in the English or French program .
While they’re going separate ways for a few years, many of GPE’s students will be back together when George Pringle re-opens as a high school in September 2026.
“So we’re not really saying ‘Goodbye’,” Guignard, the principal, told the kids. “We’re saying ‘a bientot’.”
Which means, in French, ‘See you soon’.”
