Four new schools to be built in Halifax area, adding 5,000 student spaces

Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan announces plans for four new schools in the Halifax region on Sept. 24, 2024. (Source: Jesse Thomas/CTV News Atlantic)

Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative government has announced it will build four new schools in the Halifax region as part of its school capital plan for the area.

Communities selected for new schools are Timberlea, Middle Sackville, Port Wallace, and Bedford.

Education Minister Becky Druhan says the four schools will help address growth pressure in the four fastest-growing communities in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

“Schools are cornerstones of their communities,” said Druhan. "I am elated to say that we are making progress."

Druhan says the four new schools will add 5,000 student spaces.

The Department of Public Works is in the final stages of acquiring land in Port Wallace’s Lake Charles area, Bedford and Middle Sackville. 

The Middle Sackville building will be part of the Millwood family of schools and a site near Margeson Drive has been identified.

The province has a couple lead sites in the Lake Charles area that would be home to the Port Wallace school, which is part of the Woodlawn family of schools.

The Bedford school site will be located in the Hammonds Plains area and is part of the West Bedford and Charles P. Allen family of schools. The province says there are a couple sites identified and active negotiations are underway.

A site in Timberlea on Maple Grove Avenue has been purchased for $16.75 million and has been recommended by Public Works for a new pre-primary to Grade 8 school that will provide capacity for an estimated 800 students as part of the Bayview family of schools.

It’s estimated the construction of the four schools could take five to six years to complete.

A site on Radcliffe Drive in Clayton Park has been selected for the new Clayton Park-Fairview Junior High School that was announced in 2018. The HRM bought the land for $2.25 million.

Planning and design is underway and the school will have capacity for 950 Grade 6 to 9 students.

The province’s 2023 school capital plan included 14 new schools across Nova Scotia.

According to the plan, four schools are set to open in 2024-2025. The Cape Breton Education Centre and Springhill Elementary have already opened, Eastern Shore School is set to open this winter and Ecole Wedgeport is slated to open in the fall.

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