Skip to Main Content
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Ministry approves building of new elementary school in Rockwood

Ministry approves building of new elementary school in Rockwood

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release
January 16, 2013

GUELPH, Ontario — The Ministry of Education has approved the building of a new elementary school in Rockwood to ease the current overcrowding at Rockwood Centennial PS and the pressure of the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) in September 2014. Guelph MPP Liz Sandals made the formal announcement at the Business Operations Committee meeting of the Upper Grand District School Board on Tuesday, January 15, 2013.

In announcing the approval, Sandals noted that the board is one of the few who have managed its New Pupil Place (NPP) money well. NPP dollars were provided under the former funding regime to boards with growth areas. She also said that the board should be commended for consistently building on budget.

Funding comes from a combination of Ministry capital grants for FDK and the board’s remaining NPP grants. The board’s target budget is approximately $6.1 million.

The new school will house 308 students. The site sits just outside of the current urban boundary of the village of Rockwood. It’s at the end of MacLellan Street which runs west off Highway 7, south of the Rockwood cemetery in the south west of the area.

The school will be designed by the architectural firm of Allen and Sherriff, based on a repeat of the firm’s design for a new school to be built in Orangeville (Settler’s Creek). By using the same architect it’s expected that there will be increased efficiencies and reduced costs.

The school is to open as close to September 2014 as possible and requires a compressed process that can be achieved by using the repeat design and a single User Advisory Group. The group has yet to be established. It will meet once in lieu of a establishing a building committee. A design schedule has yet to be developed.

Whether the new school will serve JK to grade 6 or JK to grade 8 has not yet been decided. Also to be considered is if it will house the proposed French Immersion (FI) program in Rockwood.

In her announcement MPP Sandals also announced that the Ministry has approved the building of a new JK to grade 8 schools in Orangeville (Settlers’ Creek), in South Guelph on Zaduk Street (an FI Centre), and on Lee Street in East Guelph.

For more information: 

Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer
519-822-4420 ext. 725
[email protected]

Mark Weidmark, Administrative Officer – Communications
519-822-4420 ext. 544
[email protected]

Categories: Media Releases