Released on February 22, 2016
Today Education Minister Don Morgan joined school division officials from Saskatoon Public Schools, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, Prairie Spirit School Division, Regina Public Schools and Regina Catholic School Division, along with students, parents and community members to unveil the designs for the 18 publicly-owned elementary schools being built on nine joint-use sites in Regina, Saskatoon, Martensville and Warman.“Thank you to all the students, families, municipalities, school divisions, ministry staff, design and construction teams, and many of our other partners and stakeholders who played a significant role in helping finalize the designs of these 18 schools,” Morgan said. “That hard work and collaboration has ensured that we are building schools that will respect the uniqueness of each community and will serve the needs of the students for years to come.”
“It’s a great day today because it's another step toward the completion of all these desperately needed schools,” Regina Catholic School Division Board Chair Frank Flegel said. “We are especially pleased that our continuing consultations with SaskBuilds and the Ministry of Education have resulted in designs that meet our needs to provide a well-rounded Catholic education for our students.”
“The new schools we’ll be opening in our school division will be vital to t he four growing neighbourhoods they will serve,” Saskatoon Public Schools Board Chair Ray Morrison said. “We wouldn’t be here without the help of our students, families and partners to ensure these new learning spaces will be supportive of the unique and diverse needs of our school communities.”
“Prairie Spirit appreciates that the new schools in Martensville and Warman are being built to address strong and sustained enrolment growth in our division,” Prairie Spirit School Division Vice-Chair Sam Dyck said. “We know that these schools are being designed to support student learning in many new ways and we eagerly await the opening of the new schools.”
“Over the past few months, we have watched eagerly as the new structures grow in our communities,” Regina Board Chair Katherine Gagne said. “Today we all get to see more details of what these schools will look like. I am confident that they will contribute to the learning success of our students, as we strive to meet the public education needs of our growing city.”
“It’s taken a lot of people a lot of hours of work to get to this point,” Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools Board Chair Diane Boyko said. “The schools are really starting to take shape, and now that we have official drawings, I think people in those communities are starting to get excited about their new schools.”
The school designs will be available on the Government of Saskatchewan website, along with the construction site webcams.
Construction is on schedule at all nine sites with approximately six (6) months of work now completed. The schools are scheduled to be completed and ready for students by September 2017. The 18 schools are designed to accommodate more than 11,000 students from Prekindergarten to Grade 8, which includes 5,700 students in Saskatoon, 2,100 students in Martensville and Warman, and 3,300 students in Regina. Each joint-use school will contain a 90-space childcare centre as well as community space. Joint-use schools are co-owned by the public and Catholic school divisions.
Since 2007, the province has committed approximately $966 million toward 65 major school capital projects and numerous smaller projects such as portable classrooms and preventative maintenance and renewal.
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For more information, contact:
Stephanie Ali
Education
Regina
Phone: 306-787-6304
Email: stephanie.ali@gov.sk.ca