Montreal MNA tables petition to save Centennial Academy

A Montreal Liberal MNA has tabled a petition to save a school for students with learning challenges that’s at risk of closing due to financial issues.

Centennial Academy, a private school in downtown Montreal that provides specialized education to 300 students with special needs, may have to shut its doors by the end of the current academic school year.

“The reality is this. Yes, my son is doing great right now, but it is because he has the tools that he has here at Centennial to be able to make it. I can try and put him into another private school because his grades will be, they’re great enough for him to be able to go to another private school and then within three months they will plummet back down because he no longer has the tools that he had here – and I have nowhere else to put him,” said Valérie-Anne Joseph, mother of a student at Centennial Academy.

“It’s not always roses. It gets a little bit difficult, but we have the resources and we have the help. And we have the one on one, which is what our children would never have in any other school. In the public system, they would fall through the cracks,” said Gina Greco, another mother of a student at Centennial Academy.

Jennifer Maccarone, the Liberal MNA for Westmount–Saint-Louis, where the school is located, tabled the petition Thursday at the National Assembly.

“Centennial Academy regretfully is facing financial difficulties in large part because they need to have the Francophone sector of the school recognized so that they can be private subsidized,” said Maccarone.

“Unfortunately, if they don’t get this ‘agreement’ extended to the Francophone sector it’s gonna be very difficult for them to continue fundraising to be able to continue to provide those services.”

The petition, which was signed by 7,121 people, calls on the Legault government to ensure Centennial Academy does not close.

“Centennial Academy is not merely a school, it is a lifeline, a nurturing community where each child is seen, supported, and given the tools to thrive,” Maccarone said. “Its approach is exceptional, its mission indispensable.”

Angela Burgos, the head of Centennial Academy, adds, “We’ve been lobbying, you know, when we started the French dream, we actually assumed it’s one school. Centennial gets the subsidy for the English sector. We assumed we would get it for the French sector. And we’ve been applying year in and year out to get the eligibility for the French sector without success.”

Burgos adds that they’ve even submitted the proposed recovery plan requested from the Minister of Education’s office back in April 2025, in an effort to ensure the school’s longevity – but says they’ve yet to receive an answer.

“We’ve invited him several times to Centennial without success and Jennifer McEnrol in the National Assembly has given him personal invitations that we prepared to invite Minister Dranville this year and last year without, without success.”

The school has submitted a recovery plan to Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville following his request for one, says Maccarone. The school has applied for emergency support.

“The minister of education must act with urgency and compassion to preserve this beacon of hope,” the Montreal MNA said. “This is not a matter of budgets, but of basic humanity – for children who, in the face of immense challenges, still dare to dream of success.”

Maccarone adding, “I can tell you that from a parent perspective, there is no plan B. If we don’t do the right thing from a government perspective to save this school, these students are gonna find themselves in dire straits.”

The financial troubles stem from nearly $9 million in debt, a result of the school losing its old location and moving to a heritage building in 2020.

The school provides a subsidized English-speaking sector and a fully private French-speaking sector. The French program, which serves half of the student body, is especially vulnerable as it does not receive government funding due to a freeze.

CityNews reached out to the Quebec education minister’s office for comment but have yet to hear back at this time.

“We need the government to understand that what we want is something sustainable, permanent, that is going to be there for not my son only, but for the sons and daughters of kids in five years, ten years, twenty years, and twenty-five years,” said Joseph.

–With files from Adriana Gentile and Corinne Boyer