The Sacred Heart School of Montreal One of Canada's oldest independent Catholic schools for girls

By Katherine Wilton, The Montreal Gazette, June 2 2010, Page A12.

Twenty-six schoolchildren received the fright of their lives yesterday when their school bus slammed into an apartment building on Doctor Penfield Ave.

The children, ages 3 to 8, were returning home from FACE school on University St. when a cyclist cut in front of the bus driver, who was heading west on Doctor Penfield, just after the busy intersection of Côte des Neiges Rd.

"I was turning left and the bicycle came right in front of me," the bus driver told The Gazette.

The bus slammed into a parked car, then plowed into the rear of an apartment building. Staff members from the Sacred Heart School of Montreal raced across the street to help the shaken children and get them off the bus.

"Our staff got the children off the bus, stopped traffic and took them into the school and gave them cookies and juice," said Shawn O'Donnell, head of the school.

The bus driver was quite shaken up and worried about the children's welfare, O'Donnell said.

One child was taken to the hospital as a precaution after complaining of a sore neck.

None of the other children were injured, but O'Donnell said they were "very nervous" and "some were in shock." The children were a bit confused, he said, asking "where was their mom."

About an hour after the accident, another bus arrived to take the children home. A few anxious parents turned up at Sacred Heart and were relieved to be reunited with their children.

One mother said she called FACE to find out why her daughter's bus was late and was informed about the accident. The school and the bus company contacted the rest of the parents to inform them about the incident.

The Commission scolaire de Montréal will send a support team to FACE today to speak to the children.

ALLEN MCINNIS, THE MONTREAL GAZETTE

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