Saint Frances Cree Bilingual School will be moving into a new 700-student facility to be built at 2010 Seventh St. E. in Saskatoon. (Don Somers/CBC)

Students and families at Saskatoon's St. Frances Cree Bilingual School have been advocating for new school facilities for years, as the popularity of the program has outstripped its physical capacity.

Now, their goal is in sight.

On Wednesday, the government of Saskatchewan announced the kindergarten to Grade 8 school will be moving into a new 700-student facility to be built at 2010 Seventh St. E.

"This is going to be a game-changer inside the city of Saskatoon," said Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand. "There's 700 kids … that are going to learn about their culture, their language and their identity."

St. Frances School, which had only 100 students when the Cree program started in 2007, now has over 500 students enrolled. The bilingual program is currently being offered at two locations — one for K-5 and another for grades 6 to 8 — as a temporary solution.

"The kids are banging into each other playing on the playground," said Arcand.

"They're going to school in portable [classrooms] and classes are oversized. So the opportunity to have a new school with a bigger playground and more space, having the right opportunities for them to be educated is really exciting."

Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand speaks at the announcement of a new location for Saint Frances Cree Bilingual School. (Don Somers/CBC)

And Arcand says this ever-increasing enrolment — now that the school will have the capacity to accommodate it — is something to celebrate.

"Inside of this school, kids will be learning Cree every day, so they can have a conversation with their parents in their language and feel comfortable," he said. "And it's growing because our people are thriving for their culture, their language and their identity."

The province has pledged $34.5 million toward the new facility, which is slated to open in the fall of 2023.

'A dream come true': parent

For Jayce Sutherland, 2023 can't come soon enough. Her four children currently attend the school.

"I can't see myself as a parent having my kids go anywhere else," she said. "Their culture and their well-being has flourished because of this school."

Although Sutherland's oldest will have graduated by the time the new facility is completed, she is eager to see her three younger children studying in the new facility.

"To now look forward and imagine all the space and the resources they're going to have is remarkable," she said. "It's pretty much a dream come true for the kids."

Jayce Sutherland is the mother of four children who currently attend Saint Frances Cree Bilingual School. (Don Somers/CBC)

At the announcement, Arcand extolled the value of St. Frances' 13-year history of Cree bilingual education for Indigenous children and their families.

"When we talk about the effects of residential school, it was to 'take the Indian out of the child,'" he said. "We now have an opportunity to keep the Indian inside the child, something that we're very proud of as First Nations people."

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Arcand said he is looking forward to learning from his five-year-old son, who will be attending St. Frances, as he himself did not have the opportunity to be educated in Cree.

"My children will have an opportunity to be part of a school and learn something that I never learned," he said. "And that's how we're changing systems that have been negative to First Nations people in this province."

Education Minister Gordon Wyant said the next step in the process will involve community consultation to ensure the new building meets the needs of students, families, teachers and community members. But the main inspirations for the new school space are already clear.

"This new school will create a welcome and modern Cree bilingual learning space for teachers and students to enjoy, to learn and to discover," he said. "Indigenous design will be at the forefront of the plan."