Students at Aldershot Elementary School are learning in a larger and more modern school after renovations to the 51-year-old building.
On March 4, Education Minister Ramona Jennex and Kings North MLA Jim Morton joined students, staff, school board members and other special guests in the school's new gym to celebrate the building's renovations.
Other additions and improvements include a library, music room and a ventilation system throughout the building. State-of-the-art technology was also added, including interactive whiteboards and computers in all classrooms, a new PA system and new safety and security features.
"It's been just fabulous," says Aldershot Elementary principal Karen Dyke of the addition and renovations to the school.
The work began in 2009, adding a 5,000 square foot gym. During renovations in the 2011-2012 school year, 285 Grades Primary to 5 students were relocated to nearby Kings County Academy. Students returned to their new space in September.
"In some ways, it's like we're still learning what we have here," Dyke says. "We're thinking so much more creatively now," she added, thanks to all the latest technology now available.
"It gives our students and staff have so much more flexibility."
The Grade 5 students, she said, have experienced it all – the move, the year at KCA, the move back, and now the improvements to Aldershot.
"Our school now has computers in each classroom, new floors, fresh paint, a cafeteria and a great, larger, new gym," said Grade 5 student Keegan Hatchard. "With these new improvements, our school looks and feels like a new building inside and out."
