Maryland Park unveils $13M expansion

The Manitoba government has spent more than $13 million to boost Maryland Park School’s capacity by nearly two-thirds.

The expansion, which was completed for the start of the school year, adds more than 17,000 square feet of educational space and increases the school’s capacity from about 550 students to 900.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt joined Brandon East MLA Glen Simard, school division officials, staff and students Friday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opening the expansion.

“This is a two-storey addition, which includes 13 new classrooms, a new science room, student support spaces and much, much more,” Schmidt said during the ceremony. “This is not only going to give more space for the students that are here today and for the staff, but also so that we can continue to meet the growing needs of this growing, vibrant community.”

Since opening in 2020, Schmidt said, Maryland Park School has experienced significant enrolment growth as new families continue to move into the community.

“To help address these pressures, our government has invested over $13 million in this major expansion to ensure that students have the learning spaces that they need close to home,” she said.

Before the expansion, the school was forced to make use of spaces that were not intended to serve as regular classrooms, with some even sharing space, teacher Brittany Michalchuk said during the event.

“As a teacher, it is difficult to put into words how meaningful this new space has been for our students, our staff and our community,” she said. “The addition is so much more than new classrooms, hallways and beautiful spaces. It represents growth, opportunity and a commitment to our students and their future.”

Students deserved classrooms where they could learn without feeling crowded and overwhelmed, Michalchuk said.

“They deserved spaces where they could collaborate, move, explore and engage. They deserved a school that supported their learning and their well-being. And now we have that,” the teacher said.

“Since the addition opened, we have seen such a positive and noticeable difference in our school. When you walk through our hallways, there is a sense of calm. There is space to move, space to breathe and space to connect.”

The expansion, along with a new school being developed in Brandon’s Brookwood area, will help the division respond to increasing enrolment, Brandon School Division board chair Linda Ross said.

The province’s investment is part of a broad effort to add school capacity as communities grow, Schmidt said.

“A K-8 school is currently under construction in west Brandon, while another school is planned in partnership with the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine,” she said.

Simard said the project had been a long time coming.

“It is bittersweet for us to open this expansion. The minister of education prior to Tracy was Nello Altomare and I remember discussing this project coming up,” he said.

“We were in the legislative chamber, and he was sitting directly in front of me. He turned around and said, ‘I’m going to make some noise here.’ I thought he meant he was going to heckle the other side. Instead, he stood up and announced to everyone that this expansion was happening, and that it would be built and open in 2026.”

Altomare, who was education minister from October 2023 to January 2025, died at the age of 61 after a battle with Hodgkin lymphoma cancer.

Simard also thanked the design and construction teams, who he said completed the project “on time and on budget.”

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