BURST
The long-anticipated elementary school in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour has a name.
The school, located at the foot of Broughton Street overlooking the marina, is scheduled to open next summer after its initial completion this fall was delayed by supply-chain issues, labour shortages and site constraints.
On Wednesday, the Vancouver school board announced the name selected for the newest downtown school: Seaside Elementary. The school was also gifted with two names from local First Nations.
The Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh gave the school the name cəw̓as, which means “facing out onto the water, facing away from the shore.”
The Squamish Nation also named the school Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw, or Lost Lagoon, school because of its proximity to the lagoon beside Stanley Park.
The three-storey school has a capacity for 317 students, 69 spaces for before- and after-school care, another 65 child-care spaces for kids up to age five, and 60 affordable rental homes.
In 2018, the school board struck a deal with B.C. Hydro to build an underground substation at the Lord Roberts Annex site in exchange for funding to build the Coal Harbour school and a replacement school at the Lord Roberts Annex once the substation is complete.
Once completed, Seaside is expected to open near capacity, with 305 students, most of whom are currently accommodated at Lord Roberts and Lord Roberts Annex.
On Wednesday, the school board approved new catchment boundaries for the schools, which mostly affect students at Elsie Roy Elementary in Yaletown. Those living in the school’s northwestern catchment will be reassigned to Lord Roberts, a further walk.
The reconfiguration would help reduce the number of students in Elsie Roy’s catchment, although it will still be at 114 per cent overcapacity.
The other two schools are also maxed out, wit h šxʷwəq̓ʷəθət Crosstown Elementary at 121 per cent overcapacity and Lord Roberts at 108 per cent capacity.
Trustee Suzie Mah said the new catchment — one of three options that all involved overcapacity schools — is a sign of things to come.
“Vancouver’s growing and we are increasing in density. Down the road, we need the land, we need to keep our land, and there may be new schools that are needed.”