Douglas Elementary celebrates with an official opening ceremony

As the first new school in Surrey to open during the pandemic, Douglas Elementary has waited a while for its official opening ceremony, which took place earlier today (Thursday, Feb. 17) with excited students, staff, union and government representatives, and community members on hand.

Douglas Elementary opened its doors in November 2020, celebrating with a physically distanced Wings Around Douglas event, where 355 students wore large decorative wings, inspired by the school's mascot, the eagle. Today's event more formally marked its opening, with Surrey Board of Education trustees in attendance at the outdoor ceremony.

"While students and staff have been in the school for over a year, we finally have the opportunity to celebrate the official opening of this fabulous school and give it the recognition it deserves," said Laurie Larsen, chair of the Surrey Board of Education. "From day one, the children and staff have made this school their own and created a culture of caring that has quickly made it a vital and welcome part of this growing community."

The celebration also marked the unveiling of a territorial acknowledgment plaque, recognizing the shared, unceded, traditional territory of the Katzie, Semiahmoo and Kwantlen First Nations on which the school sits. The plaque was designed by Rain Pierre, a Katzie artist and Fraser Heights Secondary graduate who previously designed some of the Indigenous artwork on display at École Salish Secondary.

As part of the celebration, Mr. Cornfoot's Grade 3 class sang "The Equality Song," written by Patrick Aleck of the Stz'uminus First Nation and the Penelakut Tribe. Aleck gifted his song to everyone with the hope of inspiring people to stand together and listen to hear each other, not to respond. The song begins and ends without instruments to recognize that every voice matters and that we may learn from others in spite of our differences a message that Douglas Elementary hopes to achieve.

The 25-classroom school is home to the Montessori program previously hosted at Sunnyside Elementary, providing considerable overcrowding relief to the highly populated Sunnyside. Douglas Elementary also took on the entire former Hall's Prairie Elementary catchment, and offers a total capacity for 650 kindergarten to Grade 7 students.

In addition to 25 classrooms, the school features a brand new gymnasium, library, a large all-weather gravel field, maker lab, multipurpose room, project spaces, outdoor play areas and a basketball court. The Ministry of Education provided $26 million in funding, including the building, furniture, landscaping and playground.