News Residents turn out in big numbers for new school open houses

 

Two new schools coming to Surrey were the talk of the town this past week in Clayton and Grandview Heights.

An estimated 250 parents, teachers and residents attended open houses hosted by Surrey Schools to learn more about a new Clayton-area elementary school and Grandview-area secondary school, scheduled to open in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The drop-in information sessions were held at Katzie Elementary and Pacific Heights Elementary.

The 1,500-student secondary school in Grandview will be built near 168 Street and 25 Avenue, north of the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre on a 15.9-acre property. The school will have an estimated 13,685 square metres of floor space.

The 4,704 square metre elementary school in Clayton will be built near 194 Street and 78 Avenue on a 7.5-acre property. It will have capacity for 605 students: 525 Grade 1-7 students and 80 full-day kindergarten students.

Members of CHP Architects and ThinkSpace Architecture, as well as employees from the City of Surrey's Parks, Recreation & Culture department, joined Surrey Schools at the two-hour open houses, fielding questions from the public on design, safety, environmental preservation, energy efficiency, parking and more.

Both neighbourhoods have seen rapid growth in recent years. In the Grandview area, Earl Marriott Secondary is currently 23 per cent over capacity, with eight portables on site and running on an extended day schedule. In Clayton, five surrounding elementary schools – Clayton, Adams Road, Hazelgrove, Hillcrest and Katzie – are over capacity.

The new schools will help ease overcrowding and address population growth in the expanding neighbourhoods.

To view maps, renderings and floor plans from the open houses, or to provide feedback and follow updates on the schools, visit placespeak.com/sd36capitalplan. An architectural "fly-by" of the new Grandview-area secondary is also available on the district's website.