Welland school get $10 million makeover to accommodate growing population
Published April 28, 2022 at 3:06 pm
Welland’s Quaker Road Public School is set to make room for a lot more students with a $10.4 million investment from the province.
Quaker Road has stood near the borders of Pelham and Thorold since 1995. When it was built Welland was about 48,000 people strong. However as the community has grown more than 15 per cent to 55,750, so too has the need for more classroom space.
In 2019, Quaker Road hosted 353 students, according to DSBN Director of Education Warren Hoshizaki. That number has grown more than 60 per cent to 570 in the 2022 school year.
As such Ontario has committed $10.4 million to add 331 student spaces, 15 classrooms, 49 child-care spots and a new gym.
Niagara West MPP and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education Sam Oosterhoff came to the school Wednesday morning to announce the investment, part of a $14 billion ten-year pledge to build up schools.
“The new addition at Quaker Road Public School in Welland is great news for Niagara,” Oosterhoff said, “This investment will provide choice and flexibility for families and new opportunities for the children of Welland.
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“Welland is home to thousands of wonderful people, with much of our growing city made up of families who have just moved here and soon, Welland will be home to many more families who are expected to come,” said Sue Barnett, Trustee for Welland and Chair of the District School Board of Niagara.
The new expansion hopes to do away with the portables the school has been using in recent years. Construction is expected to start in about two years following planning and development.
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