More than 200 students, parents, staff, society directors, alumni and invited guests were on hand to formally open White Rock Christian Academy’s new Junior School building in South Surrey last week.
Head of school David Michel welcomed guests to the afternoon ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 20, which celebrated not just the completion of Phase 1 of the school’s current rebuilding and expansion plans but also a recommitment to guiding principles of offering quality education in a culture rooted in Christian values that goes back to the school’s inception in 1981.
“This building belongs to God,” Michel told the assembly. “We celebrate giving it back to He who created all of us, and we pray that God will be glorified and praised in every space of this school.”
The $12-million, 50,000 square foot building – which has been in use from the first day of the current term – provides two classrooms for each grade from kindergarten to Grade 5, along with large, fully-equipped music and art classrooms for the school’s senior grades, a reading room, a collaboration room and underground parking.
Michel also announced that the school – which has offered the International Baccalaureate program authorization for grades 11 and 12 for the last two years, and kindergarten to Grade 5 since last February – had just received authorization from the International Baccalaureate organization to offer the program for the middle grades.
“I believe we’re now the only Christian school in North America to be able to offer IB from kindergarten to Grade 12,” he told Peace Arch News following the ceremony.
Also present at the ceremony in the open-plan building (at the WRCA property at 2265 152 St.) were South Surrey-White Rock MP Gordon Hogg, Surrey-White Rock MLA Tracy Redies, Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Marvin Hunt, and White Rock deputy mayor Megan Knight.
A capital campaign for the next phase of the rebuilding, which will involve demolition and reconstruction of the existing school building to create a new senior school, is pending approval of the WRCA society, Michel said.