News & Announcements

The May 28 elementary track meet brought together Grade 4 and 5 athletes from all district elementary schools, co-ordinated by Herbert Spencer teacher Kim Thomas with support from John Blatherwick, Chad Oatway, and participating coaches and administrators.

On March 4, district staff relaunched a 1970s competition as the first annual “John Strugnell Classic” cosom hockey tournament, organized with assistance from Lord Tweedsmuir teacher Allison Penner. Original founder John Strugnell attended the event and was honored for his contributions.

The tournament concluded with Herbert Spencer and Lord Tweedsmuir playing in the finals, where Lord Tweedsmuir won in a shootout.

The Herbert Spencer Carnival on May 29 was an incredible community building event that welcomed almost 1,000 people from the Spencer Community and Qayqayt EFI families that will be joining the Spencer community next year.

On June 4, the Herbert Spencer Performing Arts Club present The Lorax! Special thanks to Cassady Ranford for leading the Performing Arts Club with over 40 members in Grades 3-5 and putting on three shows in June!

We’re getting a new elementary school! Premier David Eby made the official announcement last November. The province will commit $65 million to build the school adjacent to Fraser River Middle School.

Once finished, the new school will feature: 

• Four storeys with underground parking. 
• Four kindergarten classrooms. 
• Twenty-one classrooms with capacity for 605 seats. 
• Green building design that aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 93 per cent. 
• Electric vehicle parking stalls. 

Budding tycoons at Queen Elizabeth Elementary flexed their business and marketing know-how at the school’s “Young Entrepreneurs” student fair last December.

The “Young Entrepreneurs” program entered its seventh year. Students worked throughout the first school term to design products, build business plans, and learn essential financial literacy skills. QEE Grade 4 teachers Beth Minto, Alayne Madlambayan, Rodrigo Dominquez, Brandon Del Grosso, and Georgia Nichols are the program’s organizers.

Students created posters and signs to market their items, used tools like Microsoft Word to write business plans, and collaborated with the school librarian to design PowerPoint presentations promoting their wares. They learned what it means to make a profit, calculated costs, and managed loans from parents, all while developing communication, technology, and organizational skills.

The program culminated in a school-wide event where students sold their products to their fellow classmates. Ten per cent of all profits were donated to charities chosen by each class, such as the Queensborough Animal Shelter, local food banks, or the BC Children’s Hospital.

The Musical Theatre Program at New Westminster Secondary School (NWSS) has always delighted audiences with professional productions headlined by talented student casts. That passionate commitment to bringing a piece of Broadway to the local community was recognized on March 10 by the Canada Young Theatre Awards when NWSS’s production, “Mamma Mia!” walked away with seven prizes. 

The team’s work on “Mamma Mia!” received accolades in the following categories: 

• Outstanding Lead Performance – Rebecca Vander Zalm 
• Outstanding Musical Theatre Solo Vocal Performance – Rebecca Vander Zalm (2^nd Place) 
• Outstanding Supporting Performance – Olivia Muir 
• Outstanding School Production – 2^nd Place 
• Outstanding Creative Team in a School/Program Production – 1^st Place 
• Outstanding Musical Theatre Large Group Dance Performance – “Lay All Your Love on Me” 
• Outstanding Musical Theatre Dance Ensemble Overall Excellence – “Lay All Your Love on Me” 

Since its launch in 2024, the Queenborough Middle School Leadership Program has partnered with the StrongStart program to pair Grade 8 students with younger learners. Acting as “Big Buddies,” the leadership students spent time guiding and encouraging younger children through cooperative games, storytelling, and physical activities. The initiative successfully fostered a sense of safe community belonging for the early learners while aligning directly with the BC Early Learning Framework’s focus on well-being and social responsibility.

During shared gym sessions and outdoor play, the Grade 8 mentors designed customized, inclusive games to ensure children of all skill levels could participate. This hands-on collaboration helped younger learners safely navigate gym equipment and build physical confidence, while allowing the older students to actively practice empathy and creative problem-solving in a real-world setting.

The program has drawn overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many older students forming genuine friendships and demonstrating a strong sense of teamwork and responsibility. As these Grade 8 students prepare for high school, the leadership and community-building skills gained from this cross-age mentorship will leave a lasting impact on both the participants and the wider school culture.

Science meets creativity at Fraser River Middle School! Students recently completed a cross-unit STEM project, building working electrical models of the brain and neurons using salt dough, LED lights, and Makey Makey kits.

The project combined lessons on electricity and the nervous system to demonstrate how the human body relies on electrical signals and salt content to interact with the world. While the student models ran on a 9-volt battery, real human neurons require only about 67 millivolts (0.067V) to transmit signals.