An exciting year is coming up for the Kennebecasis Valley school communities. The sign for the new school was erected on the Pettingill Road on the property of Quispamsis Middle School in January of 2013 by Department of Education and Early Childhood officials, the MLA, and special community guests. 

Since that time, a committee  representing the District and the three elementary schools in the area (PSSC and a Principal representative) have been working with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development  on the plans for the new building.  We worked through the “Educational Specifications” for new schools over several meetings and had the opportunity to visit a new elementary school in Fredericton North.  The architect was named in early March and recently the contract for the construction was awarded.   The new school is scheduled to be ready for September 2015 and will be a K-5 school for 350 children.  This school will replace the fifteen modular classrooms behind elementary schools in the Kennebecasis Valley (7 at Quispamsis Elementary, 4 at Lakefield and 4 at Fairvale).  

This school was a priority of the former School District 6 Education Council and we are pleased money for the planning phases and now the construction phase have been approved. 

We will be having an Open House evening for QMS parents on Tuesday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the school, as we know that there are questions about the construction phase which will begin in May/June and continue through next school year.   Officials from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will be on hand to share the plans and to review the building schedule.   The safety of students is our number one priority and we want to share how the building site will be secure.   

The first phase of the project is building a new field for QMS students and it must begin right away so as to be ready for fall of 2014. 

In May we will also host Open House evenings for the parents of Fairvale Elementary, Lakefield Elementary and Quispamsis Elementary. The purpose of these meetings is to share the plans for the new school, and to discuss draft elementary school boundaries for the area.  The schedule for these three meetings is as follows:

• Monday, May 12 – Fairvale Elementary School at 7:30 p.m.
  
• Tuesday, May 13 – Lakefield Elementary School at 7:00 p.m.
  
• To be determined for Quispamsis Elementary School
  

This is a very exciting time for ASD-S!