By Ian Holmes

Nanaimo private school expanding to meet strong demand

Jun 27, 2017 | 5:32 PM

NANAIMO — Construction crews have arrived at a Nanaimo private school bursting at the seams as enrollment numbers surge.

A large excavator arrived at Nanaimo Christian School (NCS) on Tuesday where five additional classrooms and a new double-sized gym are earmarked for the Holland Rd. school just off Jingle Pot Rd.

“We are totally out of space,” principal James Sjipheer told NanaimoNewsNOW. “We’ve moved our library into a smaller space and created a new classroom, we’ve moved our art room into a portable art room for one year.”

He said their school has grown from 270 students to 450 over the past five years, with waiting lists for most grade levels.

A new 10,000 sq/ft gym and classrooms will be joined by a purpose-built music room and commercial kitchen, Sjipheer noted. He expected the first phase of additions to the 29-year-old facility would be done by next May.

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NCS board chair Tyler Kovacs said improved facilities will take the school to another level.

“We can draw in various types of kids and teachers, it allows us to grow up our high-skills programs to give kids options,” Kovacs said.

NCS intends to demolish a portion of the school as part of a multi-phased expansion to take place over the next decade. Sjipheer envisions upwards of 750 students would go to NCS when the entire build-out is complete.

Sjipheer said while their operational budgets are funded privately and publicly, the provincial government doesn’t contribute to capital projects for private schools. He said people have stepped up to take a bite out of the $5 million price tag for the initial phase.

“We’ve been blessed so far with people in our community who have stepped up generously and made pledges…We’re about a third of the way to our fundraising goal for this project.”

Increased interest in private schools like NCS is part of a province-wide trend. Independent school enrollment shot up by 35 per cent in B.C. over the past 12 years, a report from the Fraser Institute said. The report found public school enrollment dropped by 12 per cent over that same time frame.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes