91原创's third prefabricated school addition has been announced, just weeks since the first one opened its doors.
91原创 East MLA Megan Dykeman announced the six-classroom addition to Lynn Fripps Elementary on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
"As 91原创 continues to grow, we've been making historic and rapid investments in school spaces," Dykeman said. "150 additional seats with new pre-fabricated classrooms at Lynn Fripps Elementary is great news for the whole community."
Lynn Fripps is in the fast-growing Willoughby area, where student numbers have been rising by hundreds every year. A full elementary school is currently under construction in the same neighbourhood, and the province just announced funding for a new middle school and secondary school nearby as well.
In addition, students and staff began using the six-classroom prefabricated addition at Richard Bulpitt Elementary when school returned earlier in September. It has replaced most of the portables at the school.
Another addition, an eight-classroom project at 91原创 City's Nicomekl Elementary, is scheduled to be completed in time for the start of next September's school year.
The new Lynn Fripps addition is part of $133.5 million in spending by the Ministry of Education to create 89 new classrooms across 10 school districts, including West Kelowna, 91原创, Surrey, Delta, Maple Ridge, and Nanaimo.
With some fast-growing communities seeing major strains on school capacity due to rising enrolment 鈥� 91原创 has seen enrolment grow by 1,000 or more students every year for the last three years 鈥� the province began a pilot program in 2023 of building prefabricated modular additions to some schools.
Richard Bulpitt Elementary was one of the first group of schools chosen. The 91原创 Board of Education approved the project in October 2023. The addition was mostly built off-site, and brought in as pieces on trucks to be assembled between May and July. It took 11 months in total to plan and build the new addition, which includes its own washrooms and a small elevator for disabled students and staff.
Senior staff at the 91原创 School District said earlier this month they were hoping for up to three additional modular projects after Nicomekl Elementary. Lynn Fripps Elementary was one of them.
