Nunavut’s new Igloolik school should open in five years

In five years the growing Nunavut community of Igloolik will have a third school. (FILE PHOTO)

With a desperate need for a new school in Igloolik, plans are finally on the horizon to build one — but the growing community of 1,800 will have to wait five years until it’s built.

Student capacity at the current Ataguttaaluk High School now stands at 83 per cent — 166 students — whereas for Ataguttaaluk Elementary School, capacity is at 86 per cent — 319 students.

“You can see the need,” said Barry Cornwaite, manager of capital planning at the Government of Nunavut’s Department of Education.

“Some people are saying it’s about time, other people are saying they’re just excited to have a fully functional school for the students of Igloolik.”

With the community’s very young population and possible mining developments on the horizon, the population of the two schools is only going to increase, Cornwaite said.

The new school, which will be a high school from Grade 7 to Grade 12, is projected to hold 235 students, although the design phase for that school is still in the works.

With the new high school in place, the current Ataguttaaluk High School would become a middle school.

“So with that process, it will take some of the strain off the elementary school that’s there now. So a grade or two can go over to the middle school,” Cornwaite said.

And the new high school campus will be built in the same vicinity as the two current schools, Cornwaite said.

Although designs are still being developed, Cornwaite said the school will be special needs accessible, and an early childcare facility is built into the design.

“Based on the needs of the community, it could be a new daycare or a early childhood [facility],” Cornwaite said.

The design for the high school will take about two years, and the building itself will take about three years to build.

“So five years down the road, the [schools are] going to be very crowded in Igloolik,” Cornwaite said.

The GN has hired the firm Guy Architects, based out of Yellowknife and Iqaluit.

The company has designed three high schools in the Yellowknife area, and designed the streetscape marking the 20th anniversary of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement outside the Igluvut building in Iqaluit.

The GN has also handed a contract to an Ottawa-based commissioning agent — basically an overseer for the design and construction phases — called Arborus Consulting.

This is “just to ensure you get the best possible product for the community” so that “all systems are going to work very well in the cold climate,” Cornwaite said.