A new Woodstock elementary school is expanding as city's population growth continues

A new elementary school coming to Woodstock, Ont., has received additional funding from the province to increase its student capacity. Municipal leaders say the expansion is needed to keep up with the rapid population growth the city is facing.

The province has approved a $31.9-million project to build a new school at 717 Knights Lane that will accommodate 856 students. It will also have a five-room child care centre for 10 infants, 30 toddlers and 48 preschoolers.

An additional $6.3 million was announced to increase the future school's size from 660 to 856 students. 

School board trustees and politicians in Oxford County revised the school proposal to ensure that it meets the needs of a fast growing community and match Woodstock's anticipated population growth, said Oxford County's Warden Marcus Ryan.

"The project that was first proposed was going to be, what has unfortunately become a stereotype in Ontario, of a brand new school that opens with portables that are not right sized for what the future needs are," said Ryan. 

"Everyone very quickly came to the same conclusion that building the school as it was originally proposed was not going to serve the community and the students in it, but also not going to be the best use of dollars to build the thing and then have to come back later and add onto it." 

The growing community's needs were addressed through collaboration between the different levels of government and the school board to streamline the approval process has resulted in a "fantastic future space for children to learn," said Thames Valley District School Board Chair Beth Mai.

"It will be wonderful to welcome students and families to the new school when it opens."

'The need is there' says Woodstock Mayor

Although there are about seven Thames Valley schools in Woodstock, including elementary and secondary, students living in the north-end of the city currently go to schools in Hickson and Zorra Townships, said Woodstock Mayor Jerry Acchione. 

"The need is there, the students that have been traveling outside of our city to go to school everyday, has been hard on many families," Acchione said. 

"Anytime we can make things closer to them, school being one of them, is a huge advantage. Instead of having to drive around and pick up your children 20 minutes down the road, now they can walk."  

Woodstock's population is just over 46,000, according to 2021 Census data. Acchione estimates that it'll surpass the 51,000 mark by the time the school is opened in September 2026.

The challenge for many rural communities in Ontario is they only have one school they can rely on, and any closures can result in long commutes for students, which can impact on their quality of education, said Ryan, who is also the mayor of neighbouring Zorra Township.

"A kid who spends more than an hour in commute, is a kid that's probably not going to be able to stick around for extracurriculars or work a part-time job after school. They're also not getting home until suppertime, so that's less time for them to do their homework," he said. "The needs of kids in those rural communities are different than they are for urban ones."

Planning for long-term growth is important because it determines the future of families migrating to southwestern Ontario from larger urban centres, said Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman. 

"The actual need for expansion of the system is predicated where the population is expanding and that's spreading large beyond the urban centres and people are coming out to Oxford, which is now on a percentage basis growing faster than Toronto," he said. 

The new school is now in its tender phase and construction is expected to be completed by the 2026-2027 school year.