Location for new Harbour Landing Elementary School confirmed
A location for the site of the new joint-use Harbour Landing Elementary School has been confirmed.
The school will be located on the corner of Gordon Road and Campbell Street in south Regina, according to a release from the province.
The school will be able to accommodate about 850 students, will include a 90-space child care centre, and a community space with a kitchen area which can be used by both schools and the community.
“Once we identified a school was a priority in 2020, we turned our attention to the issue of where to build the school,” said Minister of Education Dustin Duncan at a press conference Thursday.
The project was delayed while the City of Regina searched for the 11 acres of land necessary to build a new joint-use facility.
“We didn’t have efficient land for a joint-use school,” said Mayor Sandra Masters. “The work that’s been undertaken the past 20 months securing the site and working with both the provincial government and the school boards."
The provincial government will fully fund the purchase of the land and the building of the school.
Construction is expected to start later this year, with Harbour Landing West opening in fall 2026. Design is still underway.
HARBOUR LANDING CAPACITY
The new school will be able to accommodate about 850 students, will include a 90-space child care centre, and a community space with a kitchen area which can be used by both schools and the community.
The announcement was welcomed by the Regina Public School Board who said Harbour Landing School has been at capacity, since it opened in 2017. Earlier this month, they announced a temporary boundary change that will move over 200 students to Ethel Milliken School for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.
“[We] have had to make some difficult decisions,” said chair Tara Molson. “Over the past few weeks, we’ve held community consultations to hear from families what their needs are.”
Molson added the 850 proposed capacity may not be enough.
“Our projections tell us when that school opens, it will be full,” she said. “We’ll still continue to advocate with the ministry on some square footage changes.”
Catholic school St. Kateri Tekakwitha School shares a building with Harbour Landing School. Board chair Shauna Weninger told reporters Thursday, some changes will be made to accommodate class sizes in that school as well.
“We will be taking some non-classroom space and reconfiguring it to make space for classrooms next year,” she explained. “We won’t be doing any boundary adjustments heading into the 2023-24 school year.”
Weninger said the school division will re-assess its situation based on enrollment next year. She added keeping classroom size down is essential to student success.
“What we need is issues around inflation and enrollment pressures to be acknowledged so we’re able to move forward in a way that continues the integrity of education we have today,” said Weninger.
Mayor Masters has seen the difficulty educators have in constrained space, but she saw the growing need for new schools as a good thing for the city.
“Growth when we have a bunch of young people in our city is a wonderful thing for the future of our city,” Masters said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.
Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after apparently getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.