Bishop Filevich Ukrainian Bilingual School

Quick Facts

• Located at 125 105th Street West in the Sutherland neighbourhood
• Enrolment of approximately 200 students
• Kindergarten to Grade 8 Ukrainian-English Bilingual School 
• St. George's Cathedral, Saints Peter and Paul Parish and the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God are our parish partners. A great working relationship allows us to have regular liturgies and regular visits from the parish priest and staff.
• Our trustees are Wayne Stus, Todd Hawkins and Dana Case for the 2020-2021 school year.

Other information

• The goals of our Ukrainian bilingual program are to help students develop functional use of the Ukrainian language in the areas of understanding, speaking, reading and writing. We also want students to develop an appreciation of Ukrainian customs and traditions, and have positive attitudes towards various languages and cultures. 
• We offer support for English Language Learners, with an English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher at the school and partnerships with newcomer organizations such as Global Gathering Place and the Open Door Society.
• Our partners include St. Joseph's Senior Residence, Illarion Residence and St. Volodymyr Villa.
• The Sadok Dzvinok Ukrainian preschool is located at our school.
• Our after school program is offered by the Boys and Girls Club. (did not run 2020-2021)

History

In 1979, after concerted lobby efforts by parents and community members, the Board of Education for Saskatoon Catholic Schools (now known as Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools) agreed to pilot a partial immersion (bilingual) Ukrainian language program, enriched with cultural elements and religious education. This occurred at St. Goretti School.  The school was a dual-track set up whereby there was a regular K – Gr. 8 English stream AND the Ukrainian Bilingual stream housed in the same school.

In the Fall of 2002 the Ukrainian program moved to Holy Family School – where it was again housed with a regular K – Gr. 8 English stream.  In 2006 a long-awaited dream of the broader Ukrainian community was realized when the Ukrainian program got its own school.  This was due mainly to demographics & decreasing enrolment in the English stream at the time at the new host school.  The Ukrainian program now became its own school, named after a long-time friend and supporter, the late Bishop Emeritus Basil Filevich.