New Foster Northwest Neighbourhood School | 丝瓜视频 District School Board

October 30, 2025 Update

Dear families/caregivers,听

We hope everyone has had an enjoyable start to the new year!听听

As you know, work continues to be moving forward with a new Kindergarten to Grade 12 school in the Newcastle area. School board staff recently provided an update to Trustees at the October Resource Committee and Regular Board meetings about the ongoing work and planning to support the building of the school.听听听

Thanks to a Ministry of Education investment of $75.9M in capital funding, we are building a new Junior Kindergarten (JK) to Grade 12, 1,445- pupil-place school, plus a three-room childcare centre in the Foster Northwest Neighbourhood at Grady Drive and Ruddell Road in Newcastle.听

The project continues to progress through early design stages, with key milestones being met in alignment with Ministry of Education timelines.听听

Project milestones since the last update in late June 2025 include:听听

The Ministry of Education has reviewed and approved the space template for the new school, confirming that the design will meet provincial standards and provide adequate classrooms, specialized spaces, and common areas, allowing the project to move forward with detailed design and construction planning.听

The design team (architects and staff) are advancing the preliminary design development phase to confirm the general layout of the school. This includes refining the building layout, confirming space adjacencies (such as functional needs and student flow), and coordinating with technical consultants to ensure alignment with program requirements and site constraints. This phase of work will form the foundation for the upcoming site plan submission and detailed design development stages.听

The site plan pre-consultation application is expected to be submitted to the Municipality of Clarington in November 2025.听听

Future project milestones:听

Anticipated site plan and building permit approval 鈥� winter 2026.听

Collaboration with students, staff and the community to help inform visioning and establish community needs for the new school 鈥� winter 2026.听

Construction is anticipated to begin during the summer of 2026.听

Anticipated opening of the new school 鈥� fall 2028.听

We know that students and families share in the excitement of this project, and we are pleased to launch a digital Progress Dashboard on the 丝瓜视频 website to continue to share more information with families. Check out the Progress Dashboard on the Foster Northwest Neighbourhood School web page.听

厂颈苍肠别谤别濒测,听

Sonal Gohil,听

Superintendent of Student Achievement听

Progress Dashboard听

The Progress Dashboard supports communication of this exciting project, by visually representing progress.听

Chart with progress dashboard

Current Tasks:听听Preliminary Cost Evaluation and Site Plan Approval听

Next Steps: Design Consultation

We have created definitions to provide more clarification on each of the steps of the Land Acquisition and Build Approval processes, here.

Previous Updates

June 24, 2025

New School Build Update

We are excited to be moving forward with a new Kindergarten to Grade 12 school in the Newcastle area. School board staff recently provided an update to the Board of Trustees at the June 19 Board Meeting about the ongoing work and planning to support the building of the school.听

As you know, in January, the Ministry of Education announced a $75.9M investment in capital funding听to build a new Junior Kindergarten (JK) to Grade 12, 1,445- pupil-place school, plus a three-room childcare centre in the Foster Northwest Neighbourhood at Grady Drive and Ruddell Road in Newcastle.

The project is progressing through early design stages, with key milestones being closely monitored to maintain alignment with Ministry of Education timelines. Once the initial site plan and drawings are complete, the next step in the process will be to collaborate with students, staff and the community to help inform visioning and establish community needs for the new school.

Some updates and anticipated timelines with respect to this project include:

Collaboration with the Ministry of Education to develop and approve the space template.
Pre-consultation meetings with the Municipality of Clarington to provide feedback on the submission of a formal zoning by-law.
Anticipated site plan approval in spring of 2026.
Anticipated construction beginning in summer of 2026.
Scheduled opening of the new school in fall of 2028.听听

We are committed to providing regular updates to families about this exciting project and will share more information with families later in the fall.

January 29, 2025

New School Funding Announcement

Dear Families,

We are very pleased to share that the Ontario government announced funding yesterday for a new JK-12 school in Newcastle.

The new school will be located听on board-owned property in the Foster Northwest Neighbourhood at Grady Drive and Ruddell Road in Newcastle.

The $75.9 million in funding will support the creation of 1,445 pupil spaces and 49 licensed child care spaces, announced as part of the Ministry of Education鈥檚 Capital Priorities Program.

We greatly welcome this new capital funding as a positive step towards addressing the enrolment pressures we are experiencing in the Clarington area and concerns for the safety of students attending school on a highway classified provincially as a staged freeway.听

We look forward to the building of this new school, which will benefit students and families for many years to come.