Board chair says new Pineview school will ease enrolment pressures on all south Kamloops elementary schools

Construction on the new kindergarten-to-Grade 7 school will begin next spring and is slated to be completed in the summer of 2026.

The Ministry of Education has big plans for the $65 million state-of-the-art project.

“We want it to be climate sustainable as well, so that’s what it is,” said B.C. Education Minister Rachna Singh, adding it would be designed using mass timber. “Also we’ll have a learning centre in the school which will give an opportunity to have childcare spaces as well.”

The Pineview school has been high on the district’s capital project wish list since 2018.

“The new school has been needed incredibly badly. We’ve seen McGowan Park Elementary grow considerably and that’s where the majority of our Pineview students go to school,” Grieve explained.

Loaded down with four portables, the district says McGowan Park is at about 160 per cent capacity.

The new build is expected to alleviate enrolment pressures seen at all elementary schools in the area.

Grieve says it will also prepare the district for future developments in South Kamloops.

“We are hoping that not only will it support the students we have who need that school now, but also the future growth and development of that area,” Grieve said. “It’s really planning for what the future looks like for that area as well. Again, 485 (students) is a mid- to large-size elementary school in today’s numbers.”

The build will be the district’s second-largest elementary school with an operating capacity of 453 students, and a nominal capacity of 485, second only to Parkcrest, which opens in fall of 2024.

The district is finalizing design plans for the school before breaking ground next year.

by Sydney Chisholm

Board chair says new Pineview school will ease enrolment pressures on all south Kamloops elementary schools

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