Paradise is getting its own high school. The question is when

The town of Paradise, N.L., has been heard — the community is finally getting a high school. 

The provincial government announced the new school Monday morning inside the town's modern double-ice complex near town hall. 

"The school will help foster a strong sense of community spirit for the growing number of high school-aged students in the town, while also supporting positive student outcomes," reads a government press release.

In August, Mayor Dan Bobbett asked to meet with Premier Andrew Furey to state his case. Bobbett had spent more than a decade fighting for Paradise to have its own high school, with over 1,500 kids today boarding buses to attend high schools in nearby Mount Pearl and Conception Bay South. 

WATCH | This parent gets choked up when talking about a new school coming to Paradise:

Parents are cheering a new high school in Paradise, but also want to know when its doors will open

10 months ago

Duration 0:56

Kayla Quinlan, one of the organizers of the group aptly titled Paradise Needs a New High School, says parents collected data and lobbied MHAs. She was emotional Monday when she reacted to the announcement that Paradise will get its first high school.

Previous announcements of new schools in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's and Kenmount Terrace in St. John's prompted Bobbett to take another swing. 

Funding has been allocated through budget 2024. The province says next steps — including site selection, design and configuration — will begin in the "coming months."

More than $127 million has been tabled in the last few years for the new schools in Kenmount Terrace, Portugal Cove-St. Philip's and Cartwright, along with a redevelopment of the school in Pilley's Island.  

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