Construction of a new three-storey expansion to Queen Elizabeth Elementary School is set to begin next month.
The three-storey building will be connected to the existing school via an enclosed breezeway.
Richmond-Queensborough MLA Aman Singh said the new school will benefit the community for decades to come.
“This 21-classroom addition will add 525 new seats to the school and will provide space for much-needed childcare,” he said. “As the province grows, we will continue to work with both school districts and municipalities on innovative ways to provide all students with safe, modern, and inspiring places to learn.”
The project is expected to be complete by fall 2026. (The Record confirmed this date with the school district and the province, as signage posted at the site stated fall 2025.)
The news release said the expansion is the result of over $34 million in provincial funding and an additional $250,000 from the school district.
School district representatives and community members gathered at Queen Elizabeth Elementary School on Sept. 18 for a groundbreaking ceremony.
“This is such an incredibly exciting day,” said Maya Russell, chair of the school board. “We've worked very hard to get to this place. We know it's often said that we need to plan ahead for the population growth that we know is coming – and boy, is Queensborough ever growing. This is a thriving community that is packed with young families, with more to come.”
In 2021, the province announced it would provide funding for a 13-classroom, 325-student expansion at Queen Elizabeth Elementary School. Construction was expected to begin in the summer of 2022 (and be completed in early 2024) but it was delayed by site complexities.
With the project delayed, the school district sought to get additional funding from the province to add eight additional classrooms to the plans. In October 2023, the Ministry of Education and Child Care approved funding for a third floor, increasing the school’s total capacity to 763 students.
Russell said the board was thrilled the province agreed to support further expansion of the school by providing funding for a third floor.
“This beautiful expansion – which is going to be three metres off the ground to start because of the floodplain – will stand tall in this community for decades to come and be a haven for children and families,” she said at Wednesday’s groundbreaking.
New West school district superintendent Mark Davidson the work done by communities to seek new school and by the province to fund and build new schools are acts of love and demonstrations of respect for the children who have been brought into this world.
“We do not simply prepare young people for the world of work. When we bring children to school, we're providing them with the opportunity to gain immense skills and build relationships that will allow them to lead us in the future,” he said. “And when we invest in them, through providing amazing learning spaces, we help create amazing leaders.”
Davidson thanked school district staff for their patience in waiting for a building that will better meet the needs of the students they serve.
“And thank you for all that you will work through until you get to the place where that building is complete,” he said. “We really do appreciate the work that you do.”
Russell said the board is pleased took the time to go back and make a case for a bigger expansion that what had originally been proposed.
“Because now we are going to be a little bit ahead of the game and have that extra capacity that we need,” she said.
Russell said the site is located on a flood plain, so pile driving is required. She said the school district’s facilities staff have worked closely with Queen Elizabeth Elementary School to find ways to mitigate construction impacts on students and staff.
“The community is going to hear pile dropping,” she said. “It will be as short as possible, but it is essential to building a new school on a flood plain.”
While the region is located in a flood plain, Russell said the district has been told that this particular site is “complex” and has a lot of “variations” occurring underground.
The additional classrooms provided by the new building will allow the district to bring Grade 5 students — who are currently at the nearby middle school — back into the elementary school. In all other parts of the city, Grade 5 students are in elementary schools, not in middle schools.
