$38M school ready to open

After just 15 months, and $38.1 million, Kelowna's newest school is ready to open its doors to students next week.

While the entire process took about four years, construction at Canyon Falls Middle School didn't begin until May of 2018. Next Tuesday, the school will welcome about 500 Grade 6 and 7 students for the inaugural school year.

“We're most excited about having the teachers and the students in the building,” said the new school's principal, Jim Laird.

“A school is never a school until there's actually people in here learning. So it's been a lot of work getting to that point and we're excited that we are almost there.”

While the school will start its first year with just Grade 6 and 7 students, Grade 8 students will be welcomed next school year, bringing the total attendance to about 750.

Located on Frost Road, in the hills to the south of Kelowna, the school is in the running for best views in the school district.

Rhonda Ovelson, assistant superintendent at the Central Okanagan School District, says the Mission is one the district's fastest growing areas, along with areas in Lake Country and West Kelowna.

“We do have an overall increase across the district,” she said.

The actual construction cost of the school came to $32.5 million, while “soft costs” like architect and consultant fees brought the total to $38.1 million, about $2 million over the initial budget.

The last new school in the district was West Kelowna's Mar Jok Elementary, which opened in the fall of 2014.