The Chilliwack School District Board of Education has approved in principle, pending consultation with the community, the creation of a new Integrated Arts School at the former University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) site, near mid-town, available to grades 8 to 12 students from across Chilliwack.
The Ministry of Education announced on December 20, 2018 that it would provide approximately $10 million in funding to purchase the available UFV buildings, which include an existing professional theatre and culinary arts space.
The District will likely be ready to open the new school in September 2021 to grades 8 to 10, expanding to include grade 11 in 2022 and grade 12 in 2023. This new school would provide state-of-the-art learning opportunities to explore ideas and concepts across subjects and grades. Study areas could include visual, liberal, performing and applied arts.
The Chilliwack Board of Education is excited and proud to consider this new Integrated Arts School to students as part of our ongoing focus on innovative and effective education for our growing community. Similar programming has been successfully incorporated into several other school Districts including the Abbotsford School of Integrated Arts. We will be seeking feedback from our parent and student community in February on programming options. Further information on dates and times will be announced shortly.
About the District of Chilliwack:
The Chilliwack School District provides a safe, caring, equitable, accountable and collaborative learning and working environment for 14,000 students with 1,800 teachers and support staff across 20 elementary, five middle and three secondary schools, an alternate school, distance education school and continuous learning program. Chilliwack is one of the fastest-growing School Districts in B.C. with its population expected to grow from 84,000 in 2016 to 130,000 over the next three decades. The District will continue to explore and pursue opportunities to address the needs and improve outcomes for its growing student population.