Expansion at L.M. Montgomery Elementary set to open Tuesday
Students at L.M. Montgomery Elementary School in Charlottetown had Monday off as teachers and staff moved into the building's new addition.
When the students return on Tuesday morning, they will be able to use the 10 new classrooms, gym and student breakout rooms.
There will also be a teacher planning centre, storage areas and washrooms — including a gender neutral washroom.
Officials said the school was at capacity with just over 470 students, but now there will be some extra breathing room.
"With these additional 10 classrooms we'll have seven of them occupied right away," said principal Heather Cudmore. "So we will have about growth for three more homeroom classrooms."
Cudmore said it was good to have the time for the teachers and staff to better prepare the new spaces for the students on Tuesday.
"We have been working hard. Teachers were picking away, boxing up items that they weren't currently using. Using lots of their own time to come in and prep for moving day," Cudmore said.
"The Public Schools Branch and Department of Education were supportive in giving us this day today so we could actually do that and recognize the amount of time that it takes to move a classroom."
'Students were pretty crowded'
Grade 5 teacher Nancy MacKinnon was one of the teachers busy moving into her new classroom.
"My classroom for the last number of years has been a multipurpose room," she said.
"It wasn't designed to be a classroom to be used every day, it was supposed to be for special functions and assemblies and things like that."
She said it was really exciting to be moving into her own space, not just for her but for the students as well.
"The students were pretty crowded," MacKinnon said. "They could see the other classrooms and how some of them had more than what we had, but we made do. They're really excited about moving to this new space and all the things that we are going to have."
The students will have new desks, white boards and a sink, MacKinnon said, as well as a much brighter space to work.
Cudmore said the students had an opportunity to tour the new spaces last week.
"We do have new entryways for some of the students to come into," she said. "So they have new lockers, which they are excited to put their items in."
She said there will be staff on hand Tuesday morning to assist students as they adapt to their new school spaces.
More P.E.I. news
