By Laura Lennie, News Staff

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board representatives say construction of the new Winona Elementary School is ahead of schedule.

“This week, they are already painting classrooms, the lockers are installed and they are polishing the floors,” said Alex Johnstone, the area’s trustee. “The new school marks a long overdue investment in educational infrastructure in the community. It will serve as an important community hub and will respond to the growing and diversifying needs of the community.”

The school being built at the corner of Barton Street and Lewis Road is slated to open in January.

The $11-million, 72,000-square-foot, two-storey building will include a main entrance lobby, seven kindergarten classrooms, an art room, a music room, science room, a library with a two-storey reading area and full-height windows, a media centre, double gymnasium with a stage, scoreboard and clerestory windows, a fitness room, multi-purpose rooms, a special education classroom with a kitchen, laundry facilities for educational purposes and will feature occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting throughout the building.

The site will also include a naturalized landscaped area at the northeast corner of the property, soccer pitch and bus and student drop-off areas.

The new school will accommodate 812 students.

Members of the Winona Public School community began pushing for the new school four years ago, frustrated by inadequate facilities and overcrowded classrooms.

The existing school’s enrolment is more than double its original 260 capacity and the school has six portable classrooms and two portapak additions of four classrooms each.

“People are very excited (about the new school),” said Winona Public School council chair Denise Thorpe. “I’ve heard from a lot of parents that they can’t wait to get in and see what it’s like. I’m excited, my kids are excited, it looks really nice.”

Thorpe said she believes the new school will meet the needs of students and the growing community in the short term, but she’s concerned about what will happen in the long term.

“I know there is some concern, given the fact that it’s the only school in this particular area, which is forecasted to grow so much that probably, within a couple of years, you’re going to find a lot of portables on site. At some point, they’re going to need to build another school, I think,” she said. “For now, though, (the new school) is a huge step forward and the kids are excited. It definitely seems like it will be more kid-friendly and more of a community builder.”