From left, Forsyth Road Elementary principal Kam Grewal, Minister of Education and Child Care Rachna Singh, Surrey Board of Education Chair Laurie Larsen and Surrey-Guildford MLA Gary Begg were on hand Wednesday for the announcement of funding for a new onsite addition to Forsyth Road, as well as a prefabricated addition for George Greenaway Elementary and the conversion of the City Central Learning Centre into an elementary school.
An onsite addition to Forsyth Road Elementary, a prefabricated addition at George Greenaway Elementary and a school conversion at the City Central Learning Centre (CCLC) site will create 915 elementary seats in Surrey, thanks to funding from the provincial government.
Announced Wednesday (Sept. 11) by Minister of Education and Child Care Rachna Singh, the provincial government is committing more than $45 million toward the three projects, which will add 14 classrooms to Forsyth Road, 14 prefabricated classrooms to George Greenaway and re-open 225 elementary seats at the CCLC site, which was previously an elementary school.
"Investments like these three are what our district needs to help keep pace with our rapidly growing student enrolment," said Surrey Board of Education Chair Laurie Larsen. "We are committed to continuing to work with the Province to ensure that families who choose Surrey as their home are able to attend their neighbourhood schools, and students and staff have the best environments possible to learn and work in."
Forsyth Road Elementary addition
The Forsyth Road addition will effectively double the school's capacity from 340 to 680 and help address capacity challenges in the City Centre area, which has seen growing enrolment alongside ongoing residential development. The school currently has 530 students.
The two-storey addition will include space for child care and will be built using sustainable and energy efficient designs in line with the province's CleanBC targets and B.C.'s enhanced energy requirements. The province is investing $24 million in the addition, which is scheduled for occupancy in 2028.
Forsyth Road is the first elementary school slated for an onsite addition since funding was announced for additions to Semiahmoo Trail and South Meridian elementary schools, both of which are anticipated to open in the spring.
George Greenaway Elementary prefabricated addition
With an investment of $21 million, the prefabricated addition at George Greenaway will increase the school's capacity from 485 to 835, creating much needed student space in the Cloverdale area. The school has about 590 students this fall.
The project joins a growing list of elementary refabricated additions supported by The Ministry, including six-classroom additions at the nearby Latimer Road Elementary and École Martha Currie Elementary. Touted for their quicker build times than onsite additions, prefabricated additions are partially assembled offsite and offer a time savings of six to eight months on project timelines. They also include amenities such as washrooms and heating/cooling systems.
George Greenaway's addition is scheduled to open in fall 2025.
City Central Learning Centre site conversion
The province is also supporting the conversion of the City Central Learning Centre into an elementary school, with an investment of $635,000, in addition to $450,000 from Surrey Schools.
The site of CCLC was formerly that of Discovery Elementary, which hosted a Choice Program until 2012. The new elementary school will be a neighbourhood catchment school, with seats for 225 kindergarten to Grade 7 students. It is scheduled to open in fall 2025.
While many areas of Surrey are booming with enrolment, City Centre has increased in new students amid numerous multi-family housing developments, putting a strain on school capacities.
Despite the opening of a 240-seat addition to École K.B. Woodward Elementary last year, that school is now full, prompting the district to turn the Central City Learning Centre back into an elementary school in order to accommodate elementary enrolment in the neighbourhood.
Also in the works is a 20-classroom addition for Kwantlen Park Secondary, which takes students from such nearby elementary schools as Forsyth Road, École K.B. Woodward and Old Yale Road.
To view all of the district's active and planned capital projects, see the Capital Project Office progress chart.
