Ontario government approves three new schools in Waterloo Region

Stock photo of a classroom. (IStock/skynesher)

KITCHENER — The Ontario government has approved three new schools that would add nearly 3,000 student spaces and eight child care rooms in Waterloo Region.

In a news release issued Monday morning, Kitchener South-Hespeler MPP Amy Fee announced the construction of three new schools and the expansion of one that had been previously-approved.

The new facilities include three new elementary schools and a new Grade 7-12 school.

South Kitchener Elementary School

Southeast Galt Public School

Huron Brigadoon Catholic Elementary

East Kitchener 7-12 School

According to the Ontario government's website, the latter three will be part of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, with the South Kitchener Elementary School being the lone new public school.

The Catholic board tells CTV that the Southeast Galt Public School will be a joint project with the WRDSB and the City of Cambridge.

"These announcements will benefit not only the students who will attend these new schools but also a number of our existing schools where populations are swelling," said Director of Education at the Waterloo Catholic District School Board Loretta Notten.

Notten also confirmed to CTV that the East Kitchener 7-12 School will be built near the roundabout at Fairway Road and Fountain Street North. According to Google Maps, that intersection has three corners in Cambridge and one in Woolwich -- none are in Kitchener.

The new Catholic schools come as the board considers redrawing its boundaries to alleviate some schools that are over capacity.

The WCDSB serves about 36,000 students across its 48 schools, for an average of about 750 students per school.

That's compared to the 64,000 students who attend the region's 121 public schools, which works out to an average of about 530 students per school.

The government is planning on adding as many as 25,000 spaces for students across the province as part of a $500 million funding commitment. That will come in the form of 30 new schools around Ontario.

The new schools in Waterloo Region are in addition to the new $11.4 million Breslau Catholic elementary school that the province approved last year.