A new elementary school is expected to open in Langley in 2021.
The 555-seat school, which will be built in the Willoughby neighbourhood, was announced by the Ministry of Education Thursday.
With classrooms for students from kindergarten to Grade 5, the school will also include up to 83 child care spaces billed by the province as a way to give parents the opportunity to pursue goals that will help them support their families.
Funding for the project comes from the provincial government ($28.7 million) and from the Langley School District ($3.5 million).
The location was chosen based on a rapidly expanding population. The chair of the board said the Willoughby neighbourhood is one of the fastest-growing in Langley.
It will be built on a site on 78th Avenue that the school district bought last year, and should be open in time for the 2021-22 school year. It will be located between R.E. Mountain Secondary School and Willoughby Elementary.
The announcement came ahead of the opening this fall of a new, 1,700-seat secondary school in the same neighbourhood. An eight-classroom addition was also built last year at R.C. Garnett Elementary.
In total, the Langley school projects will add about 2,450 seats to the district, which the ministry says is the equivalent of nearly 100 portables.
Other major capital projects underway from the Ministry of Education include work in Chilliwack, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Vancouver, New Westminster and Burnaby.
Work is also ongoing in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam and North Vancouver, as well as districts in the Interior, central B.C. and on Vancouver Island.
In addition to more classroom space, many schools in the province are getting seismic upgrades, and 50 are getting new playgrounds – including two in Langley.
- Full list of schools getting new playgrounds this fall
- Read details on the province's Seismic Mitigation Program
A full list of current and recently completed projects is available on the ministry's website.
