Students at École Qayqayt elementary won't be late for class next fall because the school is on schedule to open in September.
The foundation is in and the walls are going up on the $13.5 million downtown school that will house students from John Robson Elementary.
"It's more or less progressing on schedule, which is a good thing. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us all winter," project manager Jim Alkins said, adding, "I don't think it'll be a problem. We'll be ready for classes in September."
The new elementary school is part of a three-school plan for New Westminster. Elementary school students from John Robson will move to the Qayqayt school. The plan is to then build a new middle school on the former Robson site. The district also hopes to get funding for a long-overdue new high school.
The bell to build a new high school project rang long ago. The district has tried for more than a decade to get a school built to replace the 60-plus-year-old structure. Plans for that project hit a snag in 2007, when the extent of an old cemetery came to light. Another issue for the high school site had been questions about the soil conditions.
Alkins said the district is continuing to work on the replacement high school project and is gathering information to meet the requirements for funding from the province.
The plan was to build the three new schools in sequence, with the elementary school coming first, then the middle school and, finally, the high school.
The new elementary school, built beside Irving House and the city's museum and archives on Royal Avenue, is located on former St. Mary's Hospital site.
Alkins said the new school will change the shape of the neighbourhood for the better.
"It'll be a catalyst for the type of development (in that area)," he said. "It's pretty positive for sure."
Currently, Robson parent are fundraising to pay for equipment at the playground of the new school. The school's parent council is seeking grant funding to help build a community playground for the school. They have applied to a grant contest run by the Aviva Community Foundation. In order to be successful, they have to get votes - lots and lots of votes.
Those who want to support the bid to build a new playground can do so by registering to vote in the Aviva Community Fund contest. Registering will gives 15 votes for the contest, which runs until Oct 14. For more information about the playground fundraiser, visit www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf17525.
The school's name comes from Qayqayt First Nation (pronounced Kee-Kite), also known as the New Westminster Indian Band, and is tribute to the First Nations people who lived in the area before European settlers came. The name roughly translates into "resting place."
