June 7, 2018
Premier Unveils Details of New Kindergarten to Grade 5 School in Seven Oaks
Premier Brian Pallister and Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart today announced more details about a new dual-track kindergarten to Grade 5 school for students, families and educators in the Seven Oaks School Division.
“Families across the province have been saying for years that construction of new schools is a priority,” said Pallister during a celebration at the future school site. “We are listening and we are building seven new schools in Manitoba, including one right here in Seven Oaks, because we know it’s long overdue. That’s the highest number of new schools to be built in Manitoba in such a short period of time ever.”
The new 56,423-sq.-ft. school will be constructed on Templeton Avenue east of Pipeline Road. It will be built for 450 students with the ability to expand to a capacity of 600. It will include:
- a child-care centre for 20 infants and 54 preschool children;
- a flexible child-care space to accommodate 30 additional spaces;
- 15 regular classrooms and kindergarten rooms, and a music room;
- a science, technology, electronics and math (STEM) lab;
- life-skills and resource teaching and guidance suites, and an English-as-an-additional-language room;
- a library and gymnasium; and
- energy-efficient design with a LEED Silver rating and Manitoba Hydro Power Smart components and enhanced indoor air quality.
“Our goal since day one has been to catch up with the need for new schools and deliver quality, new learning environments for our students and educators at the best possible price,” said Wishart. “This school will relieve pressure on existing schools in The Maples and Amber Trails neighbourhoods and support increasing enrolment in this growing part of the city.”
The new school is currently in the design phase and will be ready for tender in December 2018, the minister said. The province expects construction to be completed for the beginning of the school year in September 2020.
“Seven Oaks has been the fastest growing school division in Manitoba over the past decade,” said Derek Dabee, board chair. “We’re thrilled the province is responding to that challenge and providing first-rate facilities for our students.”
Last year, the province explored the feasibility of building new schools using a P3 partnership model. After an independent study, the province identified at least $18 million in savings using an enhanced conventional procurement approach that enabled the construction of one additional school.
Over the past year, the province has committed to spend more than $200 million to build seven new schools and repair, maintain and upgrade dozens of existing schools across Manitoba. The new builds include two high schools and five elementary schools.
The construction of these seven new schools will create capacity for 4,425 students and 540 child-care spaces. Construction is already underway on new schools in Niverville and Winkler, while the schools in Seven Oaks, Winnipeg and Brandon school divisions are currently in the design stage. Two new schools in the Pembina Trails School Division (Waverley West) will proceed to design later in 2018.
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