Lake Country getting new 600-seat middle school

B.C. premier John Horgan was in the Okanagan on Thursday announcing a new middle school will be built in Winfield.

Groundbreaking is planned for next May, with the building expected to be ready for September 2021. It will accommodate 600 kids in Grades 6 through 8.

The new spaces are expected to take the pressure off the area’s overcrowded schools. The province said Lake Country schools are currently at 125 per cent capacity.

“The Central Okanagan school district is one of the fastest growing in the province,” said school board chair Moyra Baxter. “We have the benefits of that, but also we have the challenges.

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“One of the challenges as we grow is finding space to accommodate our students. Here in Lake Country, there has been an issue for some time. So this  news, that we have been hoping for, for so long, is very welcome.”

The new school will be constructed near the site of George Elliot Secondary School, which is on Bottom Wood Lake Road.