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New School Build Update

June 24, 2025

We are excited to be moving forward with a new Kindergarten to Grade 12 school in the Newcastle area. School board staff recently provided an update to the Board of Trustees at the June 19 Board Meeting about the ongoing work and planning to support the building of the school. 

As you know, in January, the Ministry of Education announced a $75.9M investment in capital funding to build a new Junior Kindergarten (JK) to Grade 12, 1,445- pupil-place school, plus a three-room childcare centre in the Foster Northwest Neighbourhood at Grady Drive and Ruddell Road in Newcastle.

The project is progressing through early design stages, with key milestones being closely monitored to maintain alignment with Ministry of Education timelines. Once the initial site plan and drawings are complete, the next step in the process will be to collaborate with students, staff and the community to help inform visioning and establish community needs for the new school.

Some updates and anticipated timelines with respect to this project include:

• Collaboration with the Ministry of Education to develop and approve the space template.
• Pre-consultation meetings with the Municipality of Clarington to provide feedback on the submission of a formal zoning by-law.
• Anticipated site plan approval in spring of 2026.
• Anticipated construction beginning in summer of 2026.
• Scheduled opening of the new school in fall of 2028.  

We are committed to providing regular updates to families about this exciting project and will share more information with families later in the fall.

New School Funding Announcement

January 29, 2025

Dear Families,

We are very pleased to share that the Ontario government announced funding yesterday for a new JK-12 school in Newcastle.

The new school will be located on board-owned property in the Foster Northwest Neighbourhood at Grady Drive and Ruddell Road in Newcastle.

The $75.9 million in funding will support the creation of 1,445 pupil spaces and 49 licensed child care spaces, announced as part of the Ministry of Education’s Capital Priorities Program.

We greatly welcome this new capital funding as a positive step towards addressing the enrolment pressures we are experiencing in the Clarington area and concerns for the safety of students attending school on a highway classified provincially as a staged freeway. 

We look forward to the building of this new school, which will benefit students and families for many years to come.