Patty Farris always has a raincoat and umbrella in her office.
Now in her third year as principal of Lord Tweedsmuir, the elementary school with the largest enrolment in the district, Farris spends much of her day making sure the 24 divisions at the school - 14 inside the main building and 10 in the outside annex and two modulars - are centres of learning for the 558 full-time equivalent students going through three different streams - Montessori, early French immersion and regular track.
"I can make it from one end to the next in five minutes," said Farris. "I have four buildings on the site, and it's good exercise to get out and visit the classrooms. My style is to get out into the classrooms as much as I can."
Don't mistake size for lack of soul, as Farris and her team try to make sure that each student feels at the centre of the school, which is an enduring legacy of the West End.
The school dates back to 1936, when the school board of the day started planning for the construction of a four-room school. In 1937, the two-storey building, featuring four classrooms and a library, was opened. It was built at a cost of $23,000, could serve more than 170 students and was designed as a central unit that could accommodate extensions to the east and west and an auditorium on the south side.
The school was originally called the West Side School, though administrators did seek a new name. On Feb. 13, 1940, John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir - the then Governor General of Canada - passed away. In his honour, the West Side School was renamed Lord Tweedsmuir on April 10, 1940.
Farris made sure she read up on Buchan's history before starting at Tweedsmuir, and during the daily public address announcements at the school, she's been known to sprinkle some Buchan trivia into her musings.
As Farris takes The Record on a tour of the school, it's not hard to see the family spirit that Farris, vice-principal Lisa Nasato and the rest of the Tweedsmuir staff have helped build at the school.
Many of the younger children are closest to the main office, in an area called Happy Valley.
"We wanted to have the younger children in the main building," said Farris, as she helps a student look for salmon fry in the aquarium near the main office.
Go upstairs and you'll find a pretty extensive school library, with many offerings in both French and English.
To fully understand how big the school is, Lord Tweedsmuir actually has two lunch hours, the first from noon to 12:45 p.m. and the second from 12:40 to 1:25 p.m., on Monday through Thursday (Friday has only one lunch time).
"It sometimes seems like lunch goes on all day," joked Farris.
As Farris makes her way through the school, she tries to talk to every student she meets, and she does it in both of Canada's official languages.
"My French has gotten better," said Farris. "I try to speak French as much as I can with our French immersion students."
With the Montessori students, Farris works closely with Connaught Heights principal Jenny Richter to help the transition of students who start the program at Connaught in kindergarten and then transfer to Tweedsmuir.
Farris said students and families will visit Tweedsmuir twice before starting up Grade 1, and staff are always ready to answer any questions that may arise.
When Farris heads out to the annex and the modulars, it's evident the school doesn't have much room left.
Assistant superintendent Al Balanuik admitted Tweedsmuir is near its capacity but added parents say they're happy with the choices the school offers.
But with size come challenges, and as the southern part of the school property became increasingly dotted with portables, some parents became concerned with the lack of playground space.
"When the portable complex in the lower section was put up," said Balanuik, "we did get interest from parents who wanted to have input on where those portables would go."
Farris is aware of the importance of Tweedsmuir as a community hub for the West End.
"The parks and recreation department holds programs in our school, and there are art classes and sports on most nights," said Farris. "We understand that this is a community hub, and we know it's a huge responsibility that we take very seriously."
