Updates on Kingston Secondary School

If you’ve not been in the area recently, you might be surprised to see how the construction of Kingston Secondary School (KSS) is coming along.

Originally intended to open for the 2019-2020 school year, the project is now 86 per cent done, according to those with the Limestone District School Board.

“Construction of 171,000-square-foot on the new Kingston Secondary School continues on the former QECVI property on Kirkpatrick Street,” Karen Smith, Communications Officer with LDSB said in an email to Kingstonist.

“Exterior concrete, masonry and metal work is almost complete. Inside, work continues on the installation of millwork and fixtures, including student lockers. Drywall and interior painting is about 55 per cent complete.”

Additionally, the demolition of the former City library building is complete, and work on the sports field continues as weather permits, however, much of that work has now stopped due to the frozen ground.

According to the school board, KSS is on track to open for the 2020-2021 school year, when it will bring together those students formerly from QECVI and KCVI. At the same time, LDSB is working to ensure the histories of both QECVI and KCVI are preserved. Currently, the board is working on its ‘Legacy Project,’ to collect and host digitized yearbooks and documents from both schools on KCVI and QECVI Legacy Website. The Board is still welcoming alumni and former staff members to add to it with their own memories.

“Our aim with this project is to ensure that any item of historical significance is documented on our website and housed appropriately at the closure of KCVI,” Librarian Joanne Whitlfield said in an update on the project in November that notes the combined artifact and document collection KCVI and QECVI represents 227 years of the history of education in Kingston and Ontario.

At the same time, plans for the movement of items from KCVI to the new KSS are under way, Smith explained.

“Memorabilia from KCVI continues to be inventoried,” she said. “Certain items from both KCVI and QECVI will be displayed in the new school.”

The LDSB plans to display those items at KSS as part of an exhibit that celebrates the history of KCVI and QECVI.

KSS will accommodate 1,340 students — 240 of them intermediate students, and 1,100 secondary students — and will include English programs in university, college, and workplace pathways, including the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program, and intermediate and secondary extended French and French Immersion through Module Vanier. The new school will feature 34 secondary classrooms and nine intermediate classrooms including several special and multi-purpose spaces, according to the board.

In preparation for the expected opening for the 2020-2021 school year, LDSB is hosting two events in early January aimed at informing future students, parents, and caregivers. On Thursday, Jan. 9, 2019, the Grade 8 Family Information Night will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. at KCVI.

The session will include information on:

• Grade 9 course options and how to register
• Grade 8 to Grade 9 transition supports
• Extra-curricular opportunities
• Updated information on the new school

Following that information session, an International Baccalaureate Info Night will take place at 7:15 p.m., also at KCVI. Program leaders will explain more about the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, which will be moving from KCVI to KSS in September of 2020. Any student entering the grade 9 Academic pathway can apply for the programme.

For more information on KSS from the LDSB, click here.