Saturday, July 13, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
~ West Shore Voice News
An overflowing student population in the west shore area of south Vancouver Island has necessitated the installation of five new portables in the Sooke School District 62 (SD62) for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year.
The locations of five new portables being installed over the summer in Langford and Colwood indicate that student population growth is across the region and across the age spectrum from elementary to high school: one at Millstream Elementary in Langford, two at Wishart Elementary in Colwood, one at Spencer Middle School in Langford, and one at Belmont Secondary in Langford (in addition to two in place last year).
This will bring the total of portable classrooms in SD62 to 59 for September 2019. Meanwhile SD62 is focussed on facility planning and development including the construction of two new schools (one elementary, one middle) in the Westhills area.
Another high school will come to the Langford area at some point, as land for that was purchased last month.
Meanwhile, the Royal Bay Secondary school in Colwood is being expanded to 1400-seat capacity, making it the largest high school on Vancouver Island.
SD62 is the fastest-growing school district in BC due to families seeking the relative affordability of housing in the west shore area. This influx of population is adding about 500 students per year to their population count which now stands at over 11,000 for September 2019.