New Shediac anglophone school location announced, with room for growth
K-12 school expected to open in January 2029 and accomodate 930 students
The site of a new school in Shediac has been selected, leaving the district and province hopeful it will relieve enrolment pressures.
The province is budgeting $105 million for the school, which will be located on the west side of Ohio Road, next to Route 15. With construction starting this fall, the school is expected to open its doors in January 2029.
It will replace Shediac Cape School, located roughly six kilometres away.
Randolph MacLean, the superintendent and CEO of Anglophone East School District, said Shediac Cape School has doubled in size in the last four years.
Shediac Cape School is a kindergarten to Grade 8 school that has added 10 portable classrooms to accommodate its 565 students.
The new school will be kindergarten to Grade 12 and intended for 930 students, which will also take pressure off Moncton High School.
Students who travel from Shediac to Moncton High School will now be able to attend school in their own community.
MacLean said about 400 students from Shediac are transported to Moncton High School and that the school is "bursting at the seams."
"We're able to reverse that and educate students in their home community of Shediac, which is incredibly exciting," said MacLean.
He said the bus ride is about an hour each way and he's excited to give that time back to students.
"Now we've just given students back two hours of their lives and that time can be invested in extracurricular activities," he said.
The new Shediac school will feature music, visual arts and middle school technology rooms. There will also be a theatre, computer and science labs, and vocational shops. It will also have a library, cafeteria and two gymnasiums that will be open for community use after school hours.
Education Minister Claire Johnson said the school will be "surrounded by nature in a beautiful piece of land."
She also said when the school is built it will be ready for more population growth.
"We always plan for a little bit of projection for growth. ... we expect when it opens that we'll be able to welcome more people," said Johnson.
She said the southeast New Brunswick region is the fastest growing and that Anglophone East has seen a 20 per cent increase in student enrolment since 2021.
As for the current Shediac Cape School, where the announcement was made, its future use is to be determined, MacLean said.
"As we get down the road and we put shovels into the ground, we'll continue that conversation."
He said his district is also working on more schools.
Last year, two schools were approved by the province in his region, while more in Moncton and Dieppe have been approved at the district level.
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With files from Victoria Walton