A little over a century since its opening, Grandview Heights Elementary school has now been demolished.
What became a historic schoolhouse site, Grandview Heights Elementary (often called Grandview Heights School) held its first ever class on May 25, 1922 with a school size of 21 students, according to information obtained through Surrey Archives. The building only housed one classroom upon opening.
Opening later in the year, school was only in session at the tail end of that school year for merely 26 days.
A Vancouver Sun article from 1922 indicates that the school was needed in the area to offset what was called "congestion" at Hall's Prairie Elementary, which closed in 2020 but has reopened as Xw'epiteng Elementary, pronounced woh-pee-ten, as an outdoor learning school.
While having a small school size its first year open, for students aged from five to 11, enrolment grew little by little through the years.
One student of note actually became a teacher at the same school: the late Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Huff, who was in the very first class the school ever had.
She went on to teach in 1936 and eventually retired as a primary supervisor in ‘74 and passed away on Nov. 4, 2003 at Peace Arch Hospital, according to an obituary notice in Peace Arch News.
From lacrosse to softball and soccer, students at the small school were not left out of student sports, with even some wins under their belt. The grounds of the school received a ball diamond in 1952 to foster athleticism.
The school was not without its issues, however, as with any school.
With the ‘70s came the school community advocating for additional space be made at the school for students, which was soon granted.
In 1972, the school was granted $33,000 to expand the school by another classroom and an ancillary room, according to a Surrey Leader article from that December.
One scary incident even took place at the school years later in 1993, which according to newspaper clippings from the time, was similar to incidents that had occurred at a Vancouver school the same year.
In October of 1993, two nine-year-old girls were cornered in the girls washroom by a 15-year-old boy, an article from the Surrey Leader reads. One was able to escape while the other was trapped by the boy who tried to assault her. Due to this incident, dubbed "pervert patrol," students were instructed to go to washrooms in pairs, keeping washroom doors open at times, and for the students to “scream at the top of their lungs” if an incident occurred and run to find the nearest adult.
While under-enrolment at a school in Surrey is almost unheard of today, during the days of the small schoolhouse, it was the reality when it closed its doors nearly 20 years ago. According to Surrey Schools’ communications manager Avi Gill, Grandview Heights Elementary was closed in 2006 due to many factors, in addition to the low enrolment at the time.
The schoolhouse’s structural building was “deteriorating” and the location of it was not ideal for young children, situated near a busy intersection.
While the building was then used as storage for many years, what led to its complete destruction were the findings of mould in high levels, asbestos and lead in 2022 during a health and safety check.
Grandview Heights Elementary’s building was deemed a hazardous site, unsafe for any person to occupy unless in protective gear.
While the demolition process began late February, as of Thursday morning (March 13), the school building was completely gone, with some workers on site completing their job.
As far as what will happen to the site of the old school in the future, that remains unknown. Gill suggested the district may look at exchanging the parcel of land for another one in the city to build on instead, away from busy intersections.
