NorthThe Tłı̨chǫ government’s education arm is thanking Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (YK1) for accepting students who had to leave Whatı̀ and Fort Providence days after they started classes due to wildfire evacuations.Students from Whatı̀ and Fort Providence had to leave days after school startedDevon Tredinnick · CBC News · Posted: Sep 03, 2025 11:11 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours agoThe Yellowknife Education District No. 1 building in Yellowknife. The school district is welcoming students who have left Whatı̀ and Fort Providence days after they started classes. (Sidney Cohen/CBC)Students from communities threatened by nearby wildfires in the N.W.T. won’t have to interrupt their learning, thanks to Yellowknife schools welcoming them in. The Tłı̨chǫ government’s education arm is thanking Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (YK1) for accepting students who left Whatı̀ and Fort Providence days after they started classes.Both communities have been evacuated. Whatı̀ residents are largely staying in Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀, while Fort Providence residents are largely staying in Hay River and Yellowknife.Linsey Hope, director of education with the Tłı̨chǫ Community Services Agency, said that about 125 students, ranging from junior kindergarten to high school, registered at the Mezi Community School in Whatı̀ this year. Hope said students started classes on Aug. 25 and were ordered to leave Aug. 29. She said they won’t have to put learning on hold, thanks to YK1 schools, and the education arm can focus on other priorities during the emergency.”Right now, what we’re trying to do is make sure everyone’s immediate needs are taken care of,” she said. “They’re safely housed, and they have the resources they need to take care of themselves, their families, and asking folks to get whatever mental health supports in play before we try to take on any other priorities.”Hope said Mezi Community School has about 20 staff members and it’s important that they’re taking care of themselves too.Dehcho Divisional Education Council superintendent, Donna Miller-Fry, said her priorities are to meet the immediate needs of displaced staff and students from Fort Providence, including mental health needs. She said her team is also preparing for the possibility of Jean Marie River’s evacuation as that community is back on evacuation alert.”We are currently organizing our resources to support the families of Jean Marie River should they need to evacuate to Fort Simpson,” she wrote in an email.ABOUT THE AUTHORDevon Tredinnick is a reporter with CBC North in Yellowknife. You can reach him at devon.tredinnick@cbc.ca.
Yellowknife schools welcoming students from evacuated communities
