The East Capital Zone consists of only one large zone that extends from central Maple Ridge all the way east to the Mission School District boundary.
This large geographic zone contains 6 elementary schools and 2 secondary schools.
The zone is bisected by Kanaka Creek, which is a significant natural barrier with limited bridge crossings.
Enrolment Projections East Capital Zone
In the East Capital Zone, the historical and forecasted enrolment is shown relative to the available functional capacity. By 2023, schools in this zone are projected to be fully utilized.
Elementary Schools East Capital Zone
In the East Capital Zone, the historical and forecasted elementary enrolment is shown relative to the available functional capacity.
The individual relationship between capacity and current and forecasted enrolment in the 6 elementary schools is shown in the graph.
Although Blue Mountain and Webster’s Corners currently have excess capacity, the other 4 elementary schools all exceed 100% utilization and have portable classrooms on-site to provide the additional capacity required.
The overall utilization of all 6 elementary schools in the Capital East Zone is 101%.
Kanaka Creek elementary is the only school in the district offering a balanced calendar. The full utilization of this facility is in part due to families choosing this school over their catchment school.
The majority of the current demand is in the South Albion area as reflected by the current 124% utilization of Albion Elementary.
Secondary Schools East Capital Zone
In the East Capital Zone, there are 2 secondary schools – Samuel Robertson Technical in the south and Garibaldi Secondary in the north.
The historical and forecasted enrolment by school is shown relative to the available functional capacity.
When these schools are combined, the following graph demonstrates that there is some excess capacity in the zone at least until 2023.
Although the capacity of the secondary schools in this zone exceeds the current enrolment and the overall utilization is 89%, there is an imbalance in both the enrolment and utilization.
There is significant enrolment demand at Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary (SRT) and currently there are 12 portable classrooms on-site. This is in part due to the fact that SRT is host to multiple trades programs which attract students who would not otherwise attend this school.
Also, SRT is the newest secondary school in the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows school district. Garibaldi Secondary currently has an excess capacity of 395 spaces.
Planning Ahead East Capital Zone
As seen previously, the majority of the population in Maple Ridge is located in an east-west band within 5 kilometers north of the Fraser River.
Over the years, growth has continued to move eastward as agricultural and geographic conditions preclude significant development from occurring to the north.
The BLACK line shows the area boundary between the East Capital Zone and the West and Central Zones.
The District of Maple Ridge currently forecasts the majority of their future growth will continue in the East area along the Lougheed corridor.
The primary growth area is south of Kanaka Creek in the Albion planning area. This area is shown on the map above outlined in RED. The area to the east of the Albion area is Thornhill, currently designated as Urban Reserve. The areas west and north of the Albion planning area are also experiencing new growth through continued development.
The current catchment areas for the East Zone elementary schools are as shown on the map.
From this, it is easy to visualize how all of the elementary schools in the East Zone are impacted by continued growth and development in and around the Albion planning area.
Based on a detailed enrolment forecast, the table below shows the most probable effect of the development on the elementary schools serving the East Capital Zone.
The forecast shows an enrolment growth projection of 141 elementary students for the East Capital Zone. However, while the forecast may reflect the anticipated enrolment growth due to area development, it will likely not be distributed as forecasted. For example:
a. Kanaka Creek Elementary is currently at 105% utilization and has 2 portable classrooms on site. Kanaka Creek Elementary contains a district program that historically has been well subscribed. It is very probable that it will continue to operate at full capacity.
b. Albion Elementary is currently at 124% utilization with 5 portable classrooms on site. It is not practical to add more portable classrooms or an addition to Albion Elementary since the current site is already less than the Ministry guidelines in the Area Standards. There is a large portion of the site on the west side that is environmentally restricted from development.
c. Alexander Robinson Elementary is currently at 110% utilization with 2 portable classrooms on site. Without encroaching on the existing playfield, it is not practical to place additional portable classrooms at Alexander Robinson
d. Whonnock Elementary is currently at 109% utilization with 1 portable classroom on site. It is not practical to place additional portable classrooms at Whonnock due to the location of the sewage treatment field.
This means the forecasted enrolment growth will need to be accommodated at the other two schools or with a new elementary school.
The forecasted enrolment at Blue Mountain Elementary is expected to decrease. Currently there are 95 surplus spaces. By 2023 this will increase to 107 spaces.
By 2023, although there is forecasted to be some increase in enrolment, Webster's Corners Elementary is expected to still have 18 surplus spaces.
Between these two elementary schools, the total surplus spaces should be 125 students by 2023. A portable classroom could be added on site at either school to accommodate all of the forecasted increase of 141 elementary enrolment until 2023.
The school district may also consider requesting Ministry of Education funding for building an additional elementary school, as requested in previous capital plans. This would also provide sufficient space for future enrolment growth beyond 2023.
There are two secondary schools serving the East Capital Zone – Samuel Robertson Technical (SRT) in the south and Garibaldi Secondary in the north.
SRT is situated in the central area of the Albion planning area and its catchment area is shown in BLACK on the map at right. SRT is currently at 135% utilization and has 12 portable classrooms on-site.
Garibaldi is at 62% utilization and there are no portable classrooms on-site.
The District of Maple Ridge continues to forecast the highest growth to be in the Albion and surrounding areas. The challenge for the future will be to provide sufficient capacity to accommodate growth.
School Condition East Capital Zone
There are many criteria used to evaluate a school and whether any or what investment should be made in the facility. Typical criteria are location, educational suitability, size and condition.
Some of these are subjective, but the key technical criteria are the overall facility condition, the seismic risk and building envelope condition. Explanations of these terms are included in the glossary of terms section of this report.
Both elementary and secondary schools in the East Capital Zone and their FCI are as shown in the table. Schools with a FCI greater than 0.30 have a condition rating of “Poor”. Immediate attention to some significant building systems will be required.
The seismic risk is a consolidated risk classification for the entire school. A classification of Medium (M) means that no significant structural mitigation is required.
Most schools in the East Capital Zone have been assessed for building envelope failures and are shown in the table. If a building envelope project has been assigned a priority in the District’s Capital Plan, the building envelope project would be considered as a significant capital project.
All of the schools in this zone are in reasonable condition for their age, even though Kanaka Creek is over 0.30.
Adding Classroom Capacity
Additional capacity is required for schools in the East Capital Zone.
Only Blue Mountain or Webster’s Corners could accommodate an addition of at least 4 classrooms. The other schools have restricted site space or the design and layout of the school on the site makes it very inefficient for an addition.
Alexander Robertson, Blue Mountain, Webster’s Corners and Whonnock Elementary schools could accommodate at least one additional portable classroom, Albion and Kanaka Creek Elementary schools are not able to accommodate additional portable classrooms without encroaching on to the existing playfields.
