In a tiny outport, school really is out forever

Last Updated: Saturday, June 23, 2007 | 9:03 AM NT

CBC News

The only school in a small town off the southern coast of Newfoundland has closed its doors for the last time.

Grand Bruit, on Newfoundland's south coast, has just a few dozen permanent residents.
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The students of Grand Bruit All Grade school — all two of them — have finished exams and will move away to attend high school in the fall.

It is a bittersweet moment for the school's only teacher, Karen Walters.

"It's sad that the school is closing. It's not very often schools close because there's no kids left," Walters said.

"The community is coming to its ending point. There's no possibility of families moving back to Grand Bruit without a school."

The isolated coastal community has a population of just a few dozen permanent residents.

At 14 and 15, Nicole Billard and Andrew Billard are the youngest residents of the community.

Andrew Billard will be leaving Grand Bruit later this summer, as he takes high school classes in another community.
(CBC)

In a small two-room school, Walters taught 11 courses, ranging from math to art.

Though not directly related, Nicole and Andrew are closely connected. They have attended classes together since kindergarten. In the fall, they will go their separate ways to high schools in different communities.

"It's going to be different, going from two to 20 or 30 students in one class, and then there's, like, God knows how many students in the whole school," said Nicole Billard, who will be boarding with a family in Port aux Basques in the fall.

Andrew Billard, who is headed to the Baie Verte Peninsula, is concerned about the town's fate once he and Nicole leave.

"[I'm] a bit upset, because the population is falling, and there's no more younger people coming in," said Andrew, who will live with his grandparents in Brent's Cove, and will attend school in nearby La Scie.

With the only students poised to leave, the school's closure raises questions about the viability of Grand Bruit. For now, the community is not talking — formally, at least — about resettlement.

However, residents acknowledge that any hope that young families will move to Grand Bruit is gone.

Walters said she has done her best to prepare the students.

"I wanted to make sure that they were as adequately prepared for high school as any other student in Grade 9," she said.