The provincial government has approved construction of a $5.9-million Catholic school in Rockwood that the local Catholic school board says has been anticipated for decades.
The Wellington Catholic District School Board got the green light from local MPP Liz Sandals for the new school last Thursday, two days after Sandals announced provincial funding for a new public school in Rockwood.
The new 308-student public school, which could open as soon as September 2014, will relieve enrolment pressure on Rockwood Centennial school, which is currently the Upper Grand District School Board’s only elementary school in Rockwood. The new 250-student Catholic school in Rockwood, which could open as soon as September 2015, will be the community’s first Catholic school.
The project has been greatly anticipated for decades, said a news release from the Catholic board. In the 1980s, the board provided a portable facility in Rockwood, with the intention of starting a Catholic elementary school. “Unfortunately, due to funding challenges a school was never established,” the release said.
Over the past several years, a variety of factors have emerged to help create a sound business case for a school in Rockwood, the release said. These include population growth in Rockwood, an increase in the number of Catholic students bused from Rockwood to St. Patrick school on Victoria Road North in Guelph, and population growth in Guelph’s east end.
The approval of the Rockwood school “has been the culmination of a series of discussions at the board table and with parent delegations,” Don Drone, the board’s director of education, said in the release. “We are delighted that the Rockwood and area community will now have this facility.”
The estimated $5.9-million cost of the school includes $400,000 to provide accommodation for full-day junior and senior kindergarten, the release said.