Cree name chosen for new Waverley West school

Waverley West’s newest elementary school will be named after a Cree translation of its address.

École Iskonakwa School — the kindergarten-to-Grade 8 building that’s being constructed at 175 Skyline Dr. — is anticipated to open in September 2027.

Iskonakwa was chosen because it means “as far as the eye can see,” a reference to the skyline, said Shelley Amos, superintendent of the Pembina Trails School Division.

“It represents living in a good relationship with the land, where hope, possibility and connection extend as far as the eye can see,” Amos told an afternoon news conference on the grounds in southwest Winnipeg.

The dual-track site, meaning it will offer English and French immersion, will have capacity for up to 800 students. It will house a 134-space child-care facility for infants, pre-schoolers and school-aged children.

The division has announced the catchment will include Bridgwater Trails, Prairie Pointe and surrounding neighbourhoods.

School and government officials gathered on Tuesday for a celebratory event that opened with a song performed by Cree elder Winston Wuttunee.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt told the crowd the school will will be more than 90,000 square feet and incorporate “flexible classroom spaces.”

The original blueprint had capacity for 675 students but has been expanded in recognition of the growing number of families moving to the area, Schmidt said.

The afternoon event is the latest in a ministerial tour promoting the government’s new bundled school construction model. Schmidt hosted a ceremonial sod-turning event in Transcona last week.

Four elementary buildings — located in Winnipeg’s Prairie Pointe and Devonshire Park communities, the Meadowlands development in West St. Paul and southwest Brandon — are being built using a standardized blueprint.

Schmidt said all of them will be equipped with play structures, in line with a new government policy.

Unionized contractor Penn-co Construction won the main bid for the projects that are subject to a new procurement policy.

The Manitoba Jobs Agreement allows the province to impose wages, benefits and apprenticeship conditions on major public infrastructure projects totalling $50 million or more.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca