directing the students on the eve of the strike, with the use of his political savviness and knowledge of using the media as a propaganda tool and the use of his telephone in his office to contact the media. The school board then decided to extend a small elementary school, École Sir George-Étienne-Cartier, at the corner of Jean-Talon and Viau streets. The project would not have been approved by the provincial Department of Education had it been presented otherwise. The new (and current building) opened for the 1983–4 school year. Roussin Academy in Pointe-aux-Trembles was closed and the students were transferred to the new Laurier Macdonald for the 1983–4 school year. Laurier Macdonald was a comprehensive high school from 1983 (or in French, école polyvalente) until that distinction was abolished provincially in the early 1990s. These schools offered high school students the possibility of vocational training in the last cycle of secondary education. Until September 2020 it was school the only remaining English-language senior high school on the island of Montreal, serving only Secondary III, IV, and V students. It has been non-confessional since the school board reorganization of 1998. Previously, public schools in the province of Quebec had been organized along confessional lines (Protestant or Catholic) instead of linguistic lines (English or French). Past staff and alumni Louis Balena served as the second principal of Laurier Macdonald, succeeding Miss T. Arbour, from the early 1970s until the late 1980s. Frank Vatrano and Tony Cambria succeeded him but both had short tenures, with Vatrano passing away shortly after becoming principal. Renzo Orsi (1991–1993) followed. He organized the Honours Plus Programme, the forerunner of today's IB Programme, and supported the expansion of the school's Communication Arts programme. Other principals included Joseph Lalla (1993–1996), Mario Tirelli (1996–2000), Pasquale Buttino(2000–2007), Eileen Kelly (2007–2011), and Luigi Santamaria (2011-2020). Notable graduates of Laurier Macdonald include multiple, award-winning IMAX producer and filmmaker Pietro L. Serapiglia (class of 1973) – Titanica, Super Speedway, Rocky Mountain Express, Grey Cup winners Randy Chevrier and Danny Maciocia, former head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League, Frank Zampino (1976), former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, and Hussain Yoosuf, a former member of the Juno Award-winning Canadian hip-hop pioneers Dream Warriors who went on to a career as a solo artist under the stage name of "Spek". The school named its pastoral centre