Article content
Regina’s two school divisions have selected names for a new north Regina joint-use school, which is the next step in transitioning to a newly constructed facility that’s expected to open its doors in 2025.
Affirmed by board trustees in a special meeting this week, Regina Public Schools has officially chosen the name Tawâw School for its half of the facility. Regina Catholic Schools selected St. Raphael School earlier this spring.
Article content
“Tawâw is Cree for ‘come in, you’re welcome, there is room here,’” said spokesperson Terry Lazarou in a recent interview. “It speaks to everyone being welcome in the classroom, in the school, and it seemed like the most appropriate way to welcome students into a new building.”
The new joint-use school will consolidate Imperial School and McDermid School on the public side, and St. Michael School and St. Peter School on the Catholic side.
It is currently under construction on the site of Imperial School and is scheduled to open for the 2025-26 school year. Ground broke on the joint-use school this past October.
Tawâw School will be the first in Regina’s public system to bear a name in an Indigenous language that hasn’t been translated or Anglicized, said Lazarou.
Seven Stones Community School offers Indigenous representation as a core concept but with English phrasing. Wascana Plains School uses the translation of the Cree word “oscana,” meaning “pile of bones.”
The name was a suggestion from a staff member at Imperial School collected during a “name your school” campaign earlier this year. It’s already a day-to-day word in Imperial School, and one that Lazarou said “felt right” to staff and students.
Article content
This choice aligns with a division-wide strategy to promote wâhkôtowin, a Cree word for interconnectedness, he said.
“This is something we are striving to do, to ensure everyone feels welcome,” said Lazarou. “The simple process of using a language that relates back to people that were here, before settlers, means that we are taking the steps for reconciliation — and also for building the future.”
Board chair Shauna Weninger shared Regina Catholic’s choice with students and staff back in May. St. Raphael was also selected through a suggestion campaign that engaged students, staff and community.
In her remarks, Weninger said the new name was chosen to represent the archangel Raphael, a patron saint of healing in the Catholic faith.
“As a Catholic school division, and as our school communities, we are always working on healing through truth and reconciliation,” Weninger said at the announcement.
The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.
With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark leaderpost.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
Share this article in your social network
