The purpose of Babine Elementary-Secondary School is to enable learners to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy society.

Granisle

     47 km. up Highway 118 off of Highway 16 at Topley a picturesque village of approximately 400 people awaits. Communities surrounding the Village include Topley Landing, Tachet, Old Fort, and Fort Babine. All situated on beautiful Babine Lake. Babine Lake is noted for being the largest fresh water body of water in BC. Great fishing, swimming and other water recreation sports are enjoyed during the summer months. Salmon come into the lake to end up at the Fulton River Salmon Spawning Channel, which is also noted for being one of the largest facilities attracting many visitors during the salmon run. Winter sports include cross country skiing, snowshoeing and of course ski-do fun. Wildlife is in abundance throughout the area, it is not uncommon in this area to see bear, eagles, deer, moose, fox and wolves on a regular basis. The scenery can't be beat. The history of Babine School in Granisle is relatively short compared to most other schools in SD 91. The growth of the school and school population was rapid in early years in order to keep up with the growth of the community. In the last decade the population of the town and the school has decreased substantially due to lack of industry. School construction followed the development of the Village of Granisle in 1965 after construction of the Granisle Mine. The actual building of the school began in the fall of 1966. The school opened in April 1967. The original school consisted of four classrooms, gymnasium, library, staffroom, principal's office, secretary's office, mudroom and washroom. The school offered Grade 1 through 8. By the end of June 1967 approximately 140 students were enrolled. This gradually increased and in 1972 construction of the new Elementary and Secondary wings began. The new wing was necessary as due to the increased population with the opening of Bell Mine. The new wing was completed and used for classes in 1973. There were some inconveniences for teachers and students during the expansion. Classes were held wherever there was an empty space--on the stage, in the gym or in a trailer. However, the inconvenience was worth it as the school we have today is the result. Students who were in grade 9-12 and who boarded and attended school in Burns Lake would now remain at home and attend classes at B.E.S.S. BESS continues to offer Kindergarten to grade 12. The enrollment dropped considerably when both mines shut down and were closed for nearly three year. Bell Mine reopened and closed again in June 1992. The school population has once again stabilized and we now enroll approximately 60 students from Kindergarten to Grade. 12. In 1994 the school began offering a school lunch program through financial sponsorship from the Ministry of Education. This program continues today. We have now downsized our building to accommodate the drop in enrollment and it is similar to the beginning of it's day with three teachers, one adminstrator, etc. We continue to offer K to 12 classes using a variety of teaching methods and programs. Drop in.