120+ upgrade and improvement projects finished at Surrey & White Rock schools this summer

A before and after of Douglas Elementary's outdoor play area, made greener by facilities staff over this past summer as one of more than 120 projects carried out at Surrey and White Rock school sites.

As summer draws to a close, Surrey Schools would like to thank the many staff members of the District Facilities Centre (DFC), whose hard work led to the completion of an astounding 125 projects at schools across Surrey and White Rock ahead of the new school year.

With a compressed timeline of only two months to finish numerous major upgrades, staff planned ahead and preordered equipment and materials to minimize project delays and ensure work was done in time for opening day.

The projects were funded by the operating budget and various funding envelopes provided by the Ministry of Education and Child Care, including the Annual Facilities Grant (AFG), Carbon Neutral Capital Program (CNCP), Playground Equipment Program (PEP) and the School Enhancement Programs (SEP).

Among the biggest preparations were converting the former City Central Learning Centre to Theresa Clarke Elementary, including a playground upgrade for the new K-7 school in the City Centre zone. Other significant upgrades included changes to the foods room at Sullivan Heights Secondary and washrooms at Jessie Lee Elementary and Cloverdale Traditional School, and a playground border replacement at Bonaccord Elementary to address safety concerns.

In the pursuit of inclusion and in line with the Surrey Schools accessibility plan, facilities staff carried out a number of accessibility upgrades at Prince Charles Elementary and Cedar Hills Elementary, as well as the replacement of a wheelchair ramp at James Ardiel Elementary. The district is actively working to reduce barriers for persons with disabilities throughout schools and other district facilities – including environmental and physical barriers – and has an open-ended survey to gather feedback and identify barriers to accessibility.

This summer saw a number of heating, cooling and plumbing projects, including:

• HVAC upgrades at Kwantlen Park Secondary and Riverdale Elementary;
• boiler plan upgrades at East Kensington, Ocean Cliff, Semiahmoo Trail and Xw’epiteng elementary schools to reduce carbon emissions;
• a chiller plant upgrade at Johnston Heights Secondary;
• water quality piping upgrades at Maple Green, École Martha Currie, Prince Charles and Royal Heights elementary schools;
• an irrigation kiosk upgrade at Pacific Heights Elementary to improve water efficiency; and
• drainage upgrades at Erma Stephenson and Peace Arch elementary schools.

Roofing upgrades were completed at Cedar Hills and Rosemary Heights elementary schools, and North Surrey and Semiahmoo secondary schools. Flooring upgrades were finished at Harold Bishop and Chantrell Creek elementary schools as well as Queen Elizabeth Secondary, with service operations keeping busy cleaning and waxing floors in schools across the district.

The electrical department ensured power at Semiahmoo Secondary with a generator upgrade and updated the electrical lighting at Woodland Park Elementary, with the benefit of some energy savings.

Nine sites saw exterior painting upgrades, and the gym at Colebrook Elementary received some new wall paneling.

A huge thank you to all our staff who worked through July and August to ensure our schools and grounds are ready to go for the new school year!