Innovative, New School Would Attract Newcomers And Families To Saint John City Centre
SAINT JOHN – The economic revitalization of the city centre has been fueled by younger professionals in their 20s and early 30s and Baby Boomers at, or near retirement age. Missing have been people with young families that mostly gravitate to the suburban communities or suburban-style neighbourhoods in the city in Millidgevile, and west and east sides.
Steve Carson, CEO of Develop Saint John, says a proposal to build a new school to replace two aging ones will help transform the neighbourhood into a mixed-income, more multicultural neighbourhood that’s attractive to newcomers and people who would normally leave the area when they have kids because they think the educational environments are better in the suburbs.
“[Many people] love urban neighbourhoods and urban lifestyle but education is top of mind as well, so replacing two of the most challenged schools in the province with the most innovative school will really help the neighbourhood in all respects, including [better-serving] low-income people and helping them find better opportunities,” said Carson.
St. John the Baptist/King Edward School and Prince Charles School have high-quality teachers and staff, and supportive community organizations like BCAPI, but the buildings themselves are old and the Anglophone South District Education Council (DEC) determined the best course of action was to replace them with a new school tailored to the urban environment.
A Central Peninsula School Task Force retained HMFH Architects to engage community stakeholders in generating ideas for the new school. The award-winning firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has designed urban schools to transform communities struggling with poverty.
The vision for the new K-8 school will be presented at a public meeting on September 17 at St. John the Baptist/King Edward School.
Heather Chase, chair of People United in the Lower South End (P.U.L.S.E) and member of the taskforce, says an HMFH-designed school will help establish the central peninsula as a vibrant, mixed-income neighbourhood.
“The design is driven by student needs and educators’ goals,” said Chase in a release. “The school will be a magnet for families. A first-of-its-kind in our province, the new school will offer learning environments that encourage contemporary, collaborative thinking within the school and extend to embrace and transform the entire neighbourhood. It’s a giant leap forward that will reset Saint John as a leader and economic driver for our province. This isn’t just a school – it’s so much more.”
The DEC has made the new school a priority for the region, and Carson says they’ve had good discussions with provincial education officials and politicians. But no decision has been made at the provincial level about whether, or when a new school would be constructed.