Orleans Wood Elementary School opened in September 1983 with a staff of seventeen teachers. The first Principal was Paul Dupuis. The Vice-Principal then was Nancy Gobel who is now retired (June 1998). Heather J. Nesbitt was the school office administrator, who retired in January 2004. Andre Bissonette was the Chief Custodian.
Orleans Wood is a dual track school with both French Immersion and English classes in Kindergarten to Grade 4 at the beginning, and up to Grade 3 now. The official opening of the school was held on November 22, 1983.Our school crest was designed by a Grade 3 student. It is burgundy and white with the school initials sitting on top of one another.
At first, the community wanted to call the school Prince William, but in a letter written to the Carleton Board of Education, Queen Elizabeth said that her grandson was too young to have a school named after him.
When the school first opened there were five classrooms empty and there were 344 students. For the first eight days the school was open, there was no running water or electricity. There is only one member of the original staff working at Orleans Wood - Johanne Trickey.
Orleans Wood celebrated its tenth anniversary in 1993 with a big school reunion one evening. It was a pleasure to visit with many of our former students who have fond memories of their time at Orleans Wood. In 2003/2004, we celebrated our 20th Anniversary with a concert, an open house and a logo contest.
*Written by four Grade 4 students in 1998 and updated January 2011.