Tuesday May 14, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated May 15, 2024]
Education Politics by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The future is taking shape at SĆIȺNEW̱ SṮEȽIṮḴEȽ Elementary School, says Sooke School District 62 (SD62) today.
“We’re thrilled to share that our 480-seat school is right on track to open its doors in fall 2025,” the school district posted in social media today.
The fast-growing Sooke School District 62 (SD62) has most of its schools in Langford, Colwood and Sooke. There is also an elementary school in Metchosin and one in Port Renfrew.
The population growth in the SD62 catchment area is about 300 to 500 students per year. That’s the equivalent of one new elementary school per year. But oftentimes it takes at least five years to get land and build a school.
Timeline:
The land purchase was announced during the pandemic in July 2022. School design got underway after that. The school naming process bridged 2022 and 2023. Construction began in summer 2023 on the land that is located within Langford very close to the municipal boundary of Colwood.
Before the school was named it was referred to during planning and design as the South Langford elementary school.
“This is going to be a fabulous addition to our community! Thanks to everybody who is working on making it great,” said local MLA Mitzi Dean (Esquimalt-Metchosin) today. She further commented on student population growth.
“As the west shore continues to rapidly growth, we need to keep up with the services people need, especially the people that come here to start and expand their families,” said Dean in a statement today.
“By investing in and supporting more schools at all levels to be built on the west shore, our government and our municipal and school district partners are taking a future-thinking approach to make sure our community the services it needs for the years to come,” said Dean, who has been a west shore MLA since 2017.
Naming the school:
The naming process at the school board level had three streams from which to choose: historical, geographical or Indigenous. There was a public meeting in January 2023 for the community to see names that had initially been proposed.
It took a while for the board to follow their process of school naming, largely in waiting for input from the local Indigenous community but also balancing public sentiment for names that recognized local politicians that would soon be retiring (notably John Horgan and Stew Young).
The Indigenous name of SĆIȺNEW̱ SṮEȽIṮḴEȽ was announced on August 14, 2023 at an event attended by BC Indigenous Minister Murray Rankin as well as local MLAs Mitzi Dean (Esquimalt-Metchosin) and Ravi Parmar (Langford-Juan de Fuca) who was formerly the SD62 board chair.
On a webpage about the new school in south Langford, SD62 invites residents to “dive into the beautiful meaning behind the name gifted by Sc’ianew First Nation” and to see some construction images.
Catchment challenges:
To review the catchment consultation including the proposed boundary and school flow, visit Catchment Proposals & Review.
The board recognizes that special programs, family arrangements, course requirements, parent/student preference and perhaps other circumstances will lead to requests for some students to enroll in a school other than the one in whose catchment area they reside.
The catchment process for the upcoming school are summarized as:
- Follow Board Policy F-502: School Catchment Areas and Student Placement.
- Proximity to feeder schools.
- Maximize existing space in all schools.
- Long-term sustainability.
- Minimize crossing of major roadways and maximize on current and future safe and active routes to schools.
- Ensure equity of opportunity and clear K-12 pathways when reviewing programs of choice.
- Minimize disruptions to students.
- Grandparent students in their current schools.
- Provide stability and a transparent process with opportunities for robust public engagement.
- Use natural boundaries as much as possible.
===== RELATED:
- Indigenous name gifted to new elementary school in south Langford (August 14, 2023)
- Choosing a name for the South Langford new elementary school (January 21, 2023)
- $7.7 million to Langford developer for land for new SD62 elementary school (July 17, 2020)
NEWS SECTIONS: SD62 SCHOOLS in Colwood, Langford & Sooke | K-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION