Richard Bulpitt Elementary was busier than usual on December 5.
The school, which is home to approximately 640 students, had a special visit from the Minister of Education of Child Care Rachna Singh and Langley East MLA Megan Dykeman.
The Minister spent time meeting the school principal, students, and staff, as well as checked out the location of an upcoming capital project funded by the province. Read the provincial news release here.
Richard Bulpitt Elementary is one of many sites across the province that will benefit from a prefabricated modular expansion.
Site prep for the project which includes 6 new classrooms is expected to start in spring 2024 and completed in September 2024.
Upon arrival, Minister Singh and guests received a warm welcome from a few kindergarten students who started the morning with a territory acknowledgment over the school's public address system. It's a daily practice at the school which involves a rotating group of students throughout the year.
Thereafter, the minister was greeted by two Grade 5 students, Kavien and Clara, who took on the role of tour guides, and led the group throughout the school.
They stopped in the gym to visit a class, the music room where students played their own composition to a Ukrainian song, the library which was filled with students completing PowerPoint projects, and a pair of classrooms with students playing numeracy games with their big buddies/little buddies.
"We wanted to show Minister Singh what a day in the life at Richard Bulpitt is like. It's a busy school that offers students opportunities to collaborate, innovate, and explore their own creativity," said Sean Oliver, principal of Richard Bulpitt Elementary.
"We also wanted to walk the Minister through our spaces and demonstrate the need for the expansion which will help alleviate enrolment demands in our community," he added.
At the end, the student tour guides shared their favourite spaces in the school. One student admitted to liking the gym for sports, the other preferred the classrooms to hang out.
Both of the students, who have been at the school since Kindergarten, will be transitioning to middle school next school year and won't get to learn in the new spaces.
"Our Grade 5s won't get to use the new classrooms but it's great for them to see this project unfold and understand how they will benefit our current and future students and staff," said Oliver.
