The provincial government has included funding for 15 school projects in the 2022 budget.
One of these projects is a replacement school in Sherwood Park. In 2020, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) undertook a value management study to create a financially responsible and creative proposal for the provincial government’s consideration.
The government has approved proceeding with design work on the facility.
“We are extremely pleased to hear Alberta Education and Alberta Infrastructure are moving forward on a design to replace École Campbelltown and Sherwood Heights Junior High with a single K-9 school,” said EIPS board chair, Trina Boymook. “It’s great news for our division, our school community and especially our students. A replacement school will ultimately help us continue to offer the quality education students need to succeed in the classroom.”
Sherwood Heights Junior High has been on the division’s capital project list for ten years, progressing from a modernization to a replacement school as the facility aged and critical systems deteriorated further. École Campbelltown is a 63-year-old building that cannot currently accommodate further enrolment growth.
According to EIPS, both schools offer a high-demand French Immersion program and combining the two made sense from an economic and programming perspective.
“We wish to thank school families, partners and other members of the community who advocated so strongly over the past several years for a replacement school in the Sherwood Heights area,” said Boymook.
EIPS will begin work with the provincial government designing the new building and they will ask for public input in the coming months.
A timeline for the project has not yet been established.
The province says they're investing $251-million over three years in new school funding.