The Superintendent for the Kamloops Thompson School District says a newly renovated Westsyde Elementary School will be the envy of all elementary schools in the city.
Alison Sidow was speaking on NL Newsday, saying there’s been over 9,000 hours of work put in to get the school ready for it’s reopening next Tuesday.
“Great big rooms, new flooring, new paint, lots of new wiring. There’s been some renovations as well,” she said. “Brand new playground, those are worth around $125,000. New tarmac, beautiful shade trees and a new lawn and field. It’s just gorgeous, and I think the kids are going to love it.”
Westsyde Elementary was closed in 2006, and Sidow says there wasn’t any vandalism to the building.
“But it was under the care of the city. Many great activities were run out of that school when it was closed but I must say it did need some work,” Sidow added.
“A lot of the school had been used for storage by the museum. Wear and tear certainly inside the building, the exterior needed painting and the tarmac at the back, the playground was quite worn and broken.”
She expects there to be about 175 kids to attend the school this year. During a tour of the facility yesterday afternoon, she says a number of kids and parents were coming in to register for the school year.
“We did give Grade 7’s an option to stay at David Thompson Elementary or go to Westsyde Elementary,” Sidow said. “Some parents felt the Grade 7’s needed that last year in the school they’ve spent all their time.”
According to figures from the school district, nearby David Thompson Elementary was operating at 125 per cent of capacity, which prompted the need to reopen Westsyde Elementary.