Names sought for milestone new school in Forest

The Sarnia-area public school board is looking for a name for a new school in Forest, its first one running from kindergarten to Grade 12, and the public is invited to make suggestions.

A naming committee was formed in the spring, said Brian McKay, associate director and treasurer with the Lambton Kent District school board which is in the final stages of planning for the start of construction of the new school.

A milestone project, it will be the board’s first school containing all grades and will replace North Lambton secondary school in Forest, as well as Aberarder, Bosanquet Central and Kinwood Central elementary schools.

The naming committee includes members from each of the school communities, McKay said.

“Anyone can submit names,” he said.

School names have become a dicey issue in some parts of Ontario, with some school districts dropping names associated with historic figures including those linked to controversial chapters in the country’s history.

According to criteria set by the Forest school naming committee, the moniker must be a historical name that once applied to the area where the school will be located, or the name of a geographic area the school will serve.

The committee decided early on that names of individuals won’t be considered, McKay said.

“I think school boards are generally moving away from that,” he said.

The deadline for suggestions is Sept. 25, 4 pm Information is available on the board’s website and also by email at [email protected]​.

“We’re asked our schools to send out messages to their school community and to have suggestion boxes in offices” and “have classroom teachers use it kind of as a learning opportunity or exercise when school’s back on in September,” McKay said.

“Some of our best school names are based on student input and student suggestions, so we’re really hoping students will get involved,” he said.

The committee is to meet in late September to begin the name-selection process.

Once the school is named, discussions can begin about selecting a mascot and school colors, McKay said.

“Hopefully, the name that is picked is impactful to the students and staff in a very positive way and, in their minds, starts to build the theme and the fabric and the overall community in the school,” he said.

“It’s an important first step in building that school culture.”

The new school will be built on about 7.8 hectares (19.5 acres) of land the board bought next to the Shores Recreation Center off Townsend Line in the Lambton Shores community of Forest.

Ontario previously approved $27.4 million for the school’s construction, as well as funding to buy land. The school board recently approved buying a strip of land from Lambton Shores for a laneway to give the new school site access to Townsend Line.

The school is being designed for just under 1,200 pupils and students and “almost an even split between elementary and secondary,” McKay said.

Public consultation for the new school design ended in the spring and the architects are “in all-out design and tender preparation mode,” McKay said.

“We’re on track for the tender” to be out for bids by the end of this year, with the aim to break ground in April, he said.

Construction is expected to take 20 to 24 months, so the school can open in September 2026, McKay said.

The school is expected to have an elementary side and secondary side with a “core” of shared spaces, such as the gymnasium and library, he said.

“There have been lots of exciting conversations” about how the board’s first school of its type will operate, McKay said. “We look forward to those continuing.”

Excitement is expected to build “once we see that shovel in the ground and heavy equipment on site,” he said.

The architects have been asked to provide the board with a 3D model of the design to be available in the fall for the public to view online, he said.

Once the new school is open, decisions can be made by the board about the four school properties it will replace, he said.