$44-million elementary school announced for Surrey

Surrey is getting a new elementary school.

The $44-million, 655-seat Sunnyside Heights-area elementary school, which will be built at 20th Avenue and 165A Street in South Surrey, is expected to be ready for students in fall 2023.

The new school was part of a $57-million announcement made by Education Minister Rob Fleming on Thursday that also included expansion plans for Surrey’s Morgan Elementary and White Rock Elementary.

The school will be built on land purchased in 2019 with $31 million from the Ministry of Education. The Surrey school district will contribute $5 million toward the project that will add much-needed classroom space to the city’s growing Grandview Heights neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, the province is spending $10.4 million on the Morgan Elementary expansion project that will create 190 seats and eliminate the need for five portables at the school. Construction will begin in fall 2021 with the new classrooms scheduled to be completed in December 2022.

The new addition at White Rock Elementary, a $7.6-million investment from the province, will add 195 seats, increasing capacity to 655 students and reducing the need for portables. Construction will begin next spring and new classroom are expected to be ready for students for the start of the 2022 school year.