‘We’ve waited a long time:’ Halifax elementary school complete after years of delays

A long-awaited Halifax school is opening next week.

After years of waiting, St. Joseph’s-Alexander McKay Elementary School in Halifax’s north end is finally ready to welcome students.

Members from Nova Scotia government unveiled the school on Friday, highlighting its modern features, including a cafeteria, library, gym and child-care centre.

“We’ve waited a long, long time for even just a taste of new. And here we are in this modern school that will be a hub for the community,” says Halifax-Needham MLA Suzy Hansen.

Construction on the school started in 2018 and was only supposed to be a renovation. But the province decided to make it brand new, which resulted in numerous delays.

“We had to add a daycare facility, which caused design changes throughout the whole building. There were utility changes that came to us. We had to move the utilities from one side of the building to the other side of the building to meet HRM’s requirements at that time. So that caused delays. We had a strike in the middle. We had some labor issues with trying to attract some material, slowdowns during COVID and other things,” says Fred Tilley, the province’s public works minister.

“It was an absolute endeavour to get from point A to point B, with many ups and downs from beginning to end. But it all culminates here today with this gorgeous facility.”

Hansen says she understands why parents and families were frustrated with the process.

“The feedback that came from families and community is that the communication should have been better and we should have known a lot sooner about what was going to happen and how things were happening,” she says.

“But we have a beautiful school behind us. It is absolutely amazing. Our kids are going to be jumping for joy over the next little bit.”

Both say students currently attending École Beaufort on Walnut Street will finally have a new and improved learning space.

“We have some technology that we didn’t have access to before,” says the school’s principal Cheyanne Gorman-Tolliver. “Things are moving with technology these days. And so they’re really coming back to a learning space that will fit what’s going on in the world.”

She says the biggest win is that it addresses accessibility concerns and for students to be able to “walk in groups with families, greet them, (and) stay after school with bussing.”

“We weren’t allowed to stay after school to have any kind of programming or extracurricular things. So this really will truly be back to being the community hub,” says Gorman-Tolliver.

The school will officially open to students on Wednesday.

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