Turtle Island School celebrates its grand opening

A wonderful afternoon at Turtle Island elementary at 717 Knights Lane in Woodstock today (May 20) with a grand opening celebration featuring TVDSB boss Bill Tucker, Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman, Woodstock mayor Jerry Acchione, representatives from both JP Thomson architects and Graceview contracting, an exuberant principal in Holly Powell, about 800 students and teachers, and me.

The K-8 school opened in Woodstock's Havelock Corners subdivision on the north side of Pittock Lake, over 2 months ago (Feb. 17), and entertained a special parents' night last week with tours, a book fair, and food trucks, scavenger hunts and door prizes, but today was its official grand opening.

The mayor didn't require his giant scissors as the moment was marked by unveiling a poster to be displayed in the school's hallway.

TVDSB director of education Bill Tucker hides behind a student 

in the middle of this picture, which also includes 

principal Holly Powell (far left), MPP Ernie Hardeman 

and Woodstock mayor Jerry Acchione. 

The ceremony's itinerary featured songs (including a catchy school song) and a group of dancers, speeches of thanks by school senior staff, and an always-to-be-remembered rally and talk by TVDSB director of education Bill Tucker who walked up the middle of the gym to express his ideas on the importance of schooling and making friends, but also played a funny greeting game with the students.

The new school has a capacity for about 850 students, a price tag of about $32 million, plus a daycare centre operated by the YMCA, an impressive gymnasium, a bright atmosphere and all amenities expected in a brand new learning centre.
According to www.tvdsb.ca, Turtle Island has been in the plans for many years, including a community information parents night back on Oct. 27, 2022.

It was a vote by families with 40% favoring the name Turtle Island which finalized what the school's name would be.

It was April 23, 2024 when Graceview received the final contract in the tendering / bidding process. At the grand opening I chatted with a representative from architect JP Thomson who explained how the required ingredients were combined to create the school's final layout.

The current Ontario education minister is Paul Calandra, but at the time of the announcement of schoopl construction it was Stephen Lecce.

“We are determined to build schools and expansions faster, part of our commitment to modernize schools in fast growing communities," said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education in a 2024 TVDSB release, "We are proud to deliver this critical expansion to the capacity of the new Woodstock Public School for local families, along with increasing funding, staffing and a back-to-basics focus on reading, writing and math skills to help ensure students graduate with confidence that they can succeed in good-paying careers." 

“This new school will be a welcoming addition to north Woodstock,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford County as construction plans were finalized. “I am excited to see this project is getting underway. My constituents and I are looking forward to seeing this new learning environment that will come from this tender process.” 

Turtle Island is the first new public K-8 school in Woodstock since 1994 -- Algonquin. However, Springbank and Southside have both had significant additions since that time, while Central has a reasonably new gymnasium.

Now that the ceremonies are in the books, it's time for students to concentrate on the textbooks and for principal Holly Powell to supply a 'thumbs up'.

www.tvdsb.ca

Facebook Group: Parents Of Turtle Island

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