Brandon school expansion unveiled

The Manitoba government has spent more than $13 million to boost a Brandon school’s capacity by nearly two-thirds.

The expansion of Maryland Park School, which was completed for the start of the school year, adds more than 17,000 square feet of educational space and increases the school’s capacity from about 550 students to 900.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt joined Brandon East MLA Glen Simard, school division officials, staff and students Friday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opening the expansion.

“This is a two-storey addition, which includes 13 new classrooms, a new science room, student support spaces and much, much more,” Schmidt said. “This is not only going to give more space for the students that are here today and for the staff, but also so that we can continue to meet the growing needs of this growing, vibrant community.”

Since opening in 2020 Maryland Park School has experienced significant enrolment growth as new families continue to move into the community, Schmidt said,

“To help address these pressures, our government has invested over $13 million in this major expansion to ensure that students have the learning spaces that they need close to home,” she said.

Before the expansion, the school was forced to make use of spaces that were not intended to serve as regular classrooms, with some even sharing space, teacher Brittany Michalchuk said during the event.

“As a teacher, it is difficult to put into words how meaningful this new space has been for our students, our staff and our community,” she said. “The addition is so much more than new classrooms, hallways and beautiful spaces. It represents growth, opportunity, and a commitment to our students and their future.”

The expansion, along with a new school being developed in Brandon’s Brookwood area, will help the division respond to increasing enrolment, Brandon School Division board chair Linda Ross said.

The province’s investment is part of a broad effort to add school capacity as communities grow, Schmidt said.

“A K-8 school is currently under construction in west Brandon, while another school is planned in partnership with the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine,” she said.

Simard said the project had been a long time coming.

“It is bittersweet for us to open this expansion. The minister of education prior to Tracy was Nello Altomare and I remember discussing this project coming up,” he said.

Altomare, who was education minister from October 2023 to January 2025, died at the age of 61 after a battle with Hodgkin lymphoma cancer.

Simard also thanked the design and construction teams, who he said completed the project “on time and on budget.”

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