Kensington Prairie Elementary School

Infobox Education in Canada
name= Kensington Prairie Elementary
streetaddress= 16824 32 Ave
city= Surrey
province= British Columbia
postalcode= V3S 0L5
areacode= 604
schoolnumber= 3636006
schoolboard= School District 36 Surrey
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= Elementary school
grades= K-7
established= 1887
language= English
free_label_1= Closed
free_1= 2006

Kensington Prairie Elementary School was a public elementary school, situated in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, that was part of School District 36 Surrey. It operated from 1887 until 2006. It is now a designated heritage site whose future use has still to be determined.

History

Established in 1887, the original one-room schoolhouse stood at Kensington-Mud Bay Road (40th Avenue) and Coast Meridian (168th Street). The first teacher at the school was M.J. Matheson. Prior to this, students had attended school in the home of Tom Fallowfield on the northwest corner of Brown Road, now 32nd Avenue, and Coast Meridian Road. The next Kensington Prairie School was built a mile to the south, at Brown Road (later 32nd Avenue). The earliest building on this site opened in 1914, and additions in adjoining buildings were added over the years. [ [http://members.shaw.ca/j.a.brown/SchoolsTo1900.html#5NAME "The Development of Schools in Surrey Early Schools to 1900"] ]

Later years

Students from the school were officially welcomed when they attended a meeting of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly on February 9, 1984. [ [http://www.leg.bc.ca/Hansard/33rd1st/33p_01s_840209a.htm "1984 Legislative Session: 1st Session, 33rd Parliament"] , Hansard, British Columbia, February 9, 1984]

The school was officially designated a City of Surrey "Heritage Site" on December 4, 2000. [ [http://www.surrey.ca/Doing+Business/Land+Development+and+Building/Plans+and+Policies/Heritage+Preservation/Heritage+Site+Registry/Heritage+Site+Info/Kensington+Praire+Elementary+School.htm "Kensington Prairie Elementary school"] , City of Surrey]

The school was considered for closure in January 2003 due to its poor condition. [http://mostlywater.org/parents_rally_to_save_school_full_crowd_expected_next_week_at_meeting_with_trustees "Parents rally to save school:Full crowd expected next week at meeting with trustees"] , Mostly Water] The threat of closure generated significant parental concern. On February 14 2003, MLA Kevin Falcon, responding to the Throne speech, argued that the school should remain open. [ [http://www.kevinfalconmla.bc.ca/EN/2211/9095?PHPSESSID=fe897bb9585407bf0fb67076a4b137cf "Throne Speech Puts BC on Course to Lead Country"] , Government Caucus of British Columbia, February 14 2003] However, in June 2006 the school was shut down and replaced by Pacific Heights Elementary School. [ [http://www.sd36.bc.ca/boundarynotices/PacificHeightsElementary.pdf "Pacific Heights Elementary - New elementary school boundaries for September 2006"] , Surrey School District] The new school was officially opened on November 15, 2006. [ [http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2006EDU0118-001386.htm "New $7.7m Surrey School Provides Better Place To Learn"] , Ministry of Education, British Columbia, November 15, 2006]

Future of the site

A movement has been started to promote the preservation of the historic Kensington Prairie School site as a community centre. A community meeting held on May 29, 2006 voted unanimously for the following resolution: "That this meeting favours the preservation for community use of at least the historic 1914 building and the gym as well as the playground area of Kensington Prairie School. At this meeting the 'Society to Save the Kensington Prairie Site' was formed with the mission of working towards the goal of the resolution. The Society made a presentation to the Board of School Trustees of School District No. 36 on October 12, 2006. [ [http://www.sd36.bc.ca/Board/meetings/0607/20061012minutes.pdf "Minutes Of A Regular Meeting Of The Board Of School Trustees Of School District No. 36 (Surrey) Held In The City Of Surrey Council Chambers On Thursday, October 12th, 2006 At 7:30 pm"] ] It was announced at a Citizen Advisory Committee meeting on March 8 2007 that the future of the site was still undecided. [ [http://www.surrey.ca/NR/rdonlyres/F79B4A4D-2332-4422-8C13-32F19931DE26/0/draftMeetingNotesMarch82007.pdf "Notes - Grandview Heights Ncp # 2 - Citizen Advisory Committee (Cac) Meeting - March 8 2007] , City of Surrey]

References