The Manitoba Government announced the opening of a new $32-million kindergarten to Grade 8 school in Winnipeg’s Waverley West neighbourhood.
“I am very excited that Bison Run School is ready to start welcoming students in January, a new facility where they can continue to learn and develop,” said Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko. “This new school will help accommodate the growth that Waverley West has seen over the last few years and alleviate pressures on other kindergarten to Grade 8 schools in Winnipeg.”
Teachers and staff have set up classrooms to welcome students. The two-story, 81,400-sq.-ft. facility is located at 60 Frontier Trail in Pembina Trails School Division. It has a capacity of 800 students from kindergarten to Grade 8.
“Our government has worked closely with the Pembina Trails School Division to turn this project into a reality,” said Labour, Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister Reg Helwer. “This new facility is also energy efficient and was designed and built to LEED silver specifications.”
Helwer noted that LEED provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings of all building types and all building phases including new construction, interiors, operations and maintenance, and core and shell.
“Pembina Trails is excited to open Bison Run School, a state-of-the-art kindergarten to Grade 8 school in Waverley West,” said Tim Johnson, board chair, Pembina Trails School Division. “This modern facility, along with Pembina Trails Collegiate, will provide students and families with the opportunity to experience an inclusive, campus-concept K to 12 experience in the years to come.”
The new school will be co-located with the first phase of the City of Winnipeg’s South Winnipeg Recreation Campus, part of a community campus for the residents of Waverley West.
Ewasko noted the construction of Bison Run School is part of the Manitoba government’s guarantee to build 20 new schools in 10 years. In addition, more work is underway to implement Manitoba’s K to 12 Education Action Plan, which furthers the Manitoba government’s commitment to improving and addressing numeracy, literacy, Indigenous education and inclusion for Manitoba students. To date, 14 of the 20 schools are either in construction or completed.
Featured image: (Pembina Trails School Division)
