School days

Yarmouth school to be built on Parade Street

When will construction of a new elementary school in Yarmouth start?

The tender for the construction of a new elementary school in Yarmouth has closed and last week the education minister said he was expecting the tender to be awarded this week or next week.

“The work will begin immediately thereafter,” said Zach Churchill, the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal was doing a final review of the tender submissions.

It’s been a year since the former Yarmouth Junior High School was demolished at the Parade Street site where the new elementary school will be built.

Students attending Yarmouth Central School will attend the new elementary school. This includes students from the former South Centennial School, which closed in June 2016.

When the Tri-County Regional School Board made its decision to close South Centennial at the end of that school year and merge the South Centennial and Central student populations into one, it had said then the timeline from the province was a September 2018 opening of the new elementary school.

The province didn’t specify last week where the timeline stands now.

“Discussions regarding the planned opening are ongoing,” Churchill said. “We’ll continue to review the project to determine if there may be any changes that could affect the construction schedule.”

Churchill said he’s pleased to see the new elementary school moving forward.

“We’re always pleased when we have the opportunity to invest in our youth,” he said. “This highquality, safe and modern school will be an asset to the community as it helps to enable student learning and growth.”

The design of the new school is focused around flexibility, diversity and active learning, Churchill said. In addition to incorporating the existing gymnasium from the former junior high school, the elementary school’s open concept design will feature collaborative learning areas, an integrated arts and sciences studio, as well as an Early Years Centre, which includes pre-primary.

Once complete the school will accommodate approximately 300 students.