MEI breaks ground for elementary school

ABBOTSFORD, B.C.

In September, the Mennonite Educational Institute Elementary School in Abbotsford, B.C. began its fourth year of operation. In the school's inaugural year, there were 35 students registered in Kindergarten and Grade 1. In each successive year one more grade was added, and this year there are 133 students enrolled in Kindergarten-Grade 4.

At the present time, the school is operating out of portable classrooms that have been placed immediately west of the MEI high school. However, the MEI Society has approved construction of an elementary school in the southwest corner of the existing school property. A building and design committee is in the process of putting the final touches on architectural drawings for the new school, which will be capable of enrolling 400 students from Kindergarten to Grade 7.

On Sunday, December 8, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to celebrate the beginning of construction of the new school. The total cost of the new school will be $4.4 million. The school has raised a total of $1.7 million in cash and pledges thus far for this project. MEI receives no government funding for capital projects. The building should be completed by the fall of 1997.

Harv Wiens, Vice-Principal

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