Parents get sneak peek at Brookwood South School

The development of a new K-8 school in the southwest end of Brandon is meant to reduce overcrowding in other catchment areas — but some parents expect it will hit capacity quickly with the expansion of neighbourhood housing.

Dozens of parents, including many who live in the Brookwood area, were given the chance to ask questions, view preliminary designs and learn about the upcoming build of Brookwood South School during an open-house event on Wednesday evening.

The school will initially accommodate 675 students, with room to expand capacity to 800 students in the future, and is expected to provide relief from overcrowding at Meadows School and Linden Lanes School.

“I feel like just with Brandon expanding, I’ve been hearing that all the schools are really kind of bursting at the seams, so it’s great that there will be another school for the area,” said Jerilyn Dutchak, a parent of two kids in Brookwood.

Her daughters in Grades 2 and 6 go to Linden Lanes School, but she has heard from other parents in the area with children enrolled in Waverly Park School or Riverheights School.

Brookwood parent Melissa Mayhew, whose youngest son in Grade 6 goes to Linden Lanes, said she predicts the new school will reach its capacity once the area is fully developed.

“We already need another school, so whether or not it means this one’s going to be overcapacity in three or four years, I think that’s a good point, because we need another school, we probably need two more,” Mayhew said.

Board of trustees chairperson Linda Ross said Brandon is “desperately” in need of a new school as enrolment has seen a “dramatic” increase in the last few years with a rise of new developments in the south area.

“Almost all of our schools are full to capacity,” she said.

“I anticipate that the school will be filled the minute it’s open.”

Eventually, the division will start lobbying for a new high school, Ross said.

The school has a tentative opening date set for September 2027 and will be located west of 34th Street. Mayhew said she’s curious about how the city will manage a surge of traffic in the area, especially when the intersection of Lakeview Drive and 34th Street can be busy in the mornings.

“Having a school there with buses and the increased amount of housing that’s going to be built in the Brookwood area — they need to consider traffic and traffic flow, too,” she said.

A representative from the City of Brandon was unable to provide an interview Thursday regarding plans for traffic flow in the area.

Mayhew and Dutchak say their biggest concerns involve whether some of their children, who will be in Grade 8 when the new school is slated to open, will transition over or remain at their current school for their final year.

“We’re not too sure because they’re going into the last year of Grade 8, so it depends on how many of their friends go over, right?” Mayhew said.

“We’ve both had the discussion — do we do school of choice and keep them there for one more year?”

She said it will be beneficial for families to have a school within walking distance of their home, especially for children aging out of the before- and after-school program.

The new school is estimated to cost $20 million and will feature 24 classrooms, two kindergartens, a gymnasium, library, music room, band room, industrial arts space, home economics area, multipurpose room, kitchenette and life skills program space.

Shared spaces for before- and after-school care are also planned, along with a 104-seat child-care centre offering 24 infant spaces and 80 preschool spaces.

Brookwood parents Travis and Sara Fehr said they are excited for their children, ages one and three, to attend the school in the future. If the timeline goes according to plan, their oldest would start kindergarten at the new school.

“It would be really nice to not have to worry about sending them to Linden Lanes or somewhere like that,” Sara said, adding that she likes the idea of the school being within walking distance of their home.

“I think the daycare as well, that’s going to be located in the school, is helpful because right now our children attend Assiniboine Early Learning Centre across town.”

The couple said they’re also interested in how the catchment area will be decided and whether kindergarten will be for half or full days.

Brandon School Division Supt. Mathew Gustafson said he anticipates foundation work to happen soon, followed by the board of trustees revising the new boundaries for the catchment areas in the fall.

Brookwood South School will likely accommodate students in the Brookwood and Bellafield areas, he said.

“Families that live in that catchment area, where the new school will be, would be given guaranteed access to that school. Then beyond that, people outside the catchment can apply under school of choice,” Gustafson said.

Ross said the board of trustees has seen several changes to school catchment areas in Brandon during the last five years due to population growth.

“Hopefully we can stop relying on busing so much, so that kids can actually go to neighbourhood schools where they can walk to school,” she said.

The open-house event focused on giving people a sense of what the new school will look like and included a tour using virtual-reality technology with the help of representatives from general contractor Penn-co Construction.

Gustafson said he appreciated the community’s interest in learning about the school and will share updates as the planning and construction process is underway.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com