La Loche teachers back in classroom one month after school shooting

Exactly a month after a deadly school shooting, teachers in La Loche are returning to the building where seven people were injured and two instructors were killed.

Mayor Kevin Janvier confirmed teachers will be back at the La Loche Community School on Monday.

The Northern Lights School Division said an open house will be held on Tuesday for elementary students at the Ducharme Building.

The community is also organizing a Reclaiming Our School walk on Wednesday. An open house and cultural event for students and community members is also planned for this day.

The open houses are meant to ease the kids back into classes, Janvier said.

Leonard Montgrand’s son is in grade 10. He doesn’t believe the timing is “too soon.”

“They have to get back into the grind, they need their education, they need that normalcy in their life,” he said, adding his son is likely feeling a bit of trepidation about going back.

“It’s like a dental appointment, you don’t get scared until the minute you’re in the dentist chair, right?”

Janvier said classes could start later in the week, but nothing has been set in stone.

Teacher Adam Wood and teacher’s aide Marie Janvier died in the school shooting. Brothers Dayne Fontaine, 17, and Drayden Fontaine, 13, were shot and killed earlier that day at a home in the community.

A 17-year-old boy is facing four charges of first-degree murder.