Clayton Heights cares
Students at Clayton Heights Secondary raised about $900 through raffle tickets, dunk tank, candy and baked goods sales and snow cone sales at a year-end event.
Students and staff turned out in full force to support the third annual Project Equal Carnival, held in conjunction with the school’s yearbook signing and student appreciation barbecue. The money is going to various local and international causes, including the Autism Foundation, BC Children’s Hospital, Surrey Urban Mission, Doctors Without Borders, and Clayton Heights’ school community in Sierra Leone.
– Cloverdale Reporter
It’s a Small World after all...
Bands from two local high schools took part in their very own Disney show. Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary’s wind ensemble and jazz ensemble performed at Disneyland in May.
Clayton Heights Secondary’s concert band also performed at Disneyland in May. The groups were taking part in the Disney Performing Arts Program, which offer band, choral, dance and auxiliary performers the chance to learn, perform and compete at Disneyland.
– Cloverdale Reporter
Abbott visits Adams Road Elementary
Education Minister George Abbott was on hand to cut the ribbon at the official opening of Adams Road Elementary last week.
The ribbon-cutting duties were performed in a cooperative fashion, with Grade 1 student Brianna Kleinfeld helping both school principal Joanne Berka and the cabinet minister.
The opening ceremony included guest speakers, entertainment, school tours and a reception.
The school, located at 18228 68 Avenue, is named for the Adams family, who lived in the area during the 1920s.
It welcomed its first students earlier this year on Jan. 10. At school year’s end it had an enrolment of 268 students.
Petition delivered
Surrey’s shortage of classroom space got some attention in the B.C. legislature last month as local NDP MLAs presented a 659-signature petition protesting a lack of capital funding.
“Families are very concerned about the negative impact of inadequate school space on their children’s education,” said Jagrup Brar, MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood.
“Even the government’s own documents show that our secondary schools are at 117 per cent capacity. That’s unacceptable.”
Apart from money for seismic upgrades and full-day kindergarten, the Surrey School District has not received capital funding for new schools since 2005.
At present, the district has more than 230 portables and it’s estimated there will be 340 in use by 2015. Add to that the fact that there are about 800 people moving to the city monthly, and the school space crunch compounds even further. Some schools, such as Earl Marriott Secondary and Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary, are switching to alternate student timetables in the fall to accommodate more students.
Surrey-Whalley MLA Bruce Ralston called the situation “intolerable” and said Surrey is getting the short end of the stick. Surrey-Green Timbers MLA Sue Hammell agreed.“It is high time that the new premier follow through on her commitment to put families first and provide students in Surrey with the funding that they need in order to ensure an environment conducive to learning,” said Hammell.
– Sheila Reynolds, Black Press