Bedford getting new high school by 2023, province says

Nova Scotia's Department of Education announced Thursday morning a new high school is coming to Bedford.

The Bedford Ravines High School will open in 2023 with a capacity for 1,200 students.

The new school will be built on the same property where a pre-Primary to Grade 9 school is under construction on Broad Street, off Larry Uteck Boulevard.

The province did not immediately provide a cost estimate for the high school.

Education Minister Zach Churchill said that many communities in the province want new schools, but they have to look at the most urgent needs and the community in Bedford is growing rapidly.

Student numbers increasing in Halifax area

"We want to make sure we have high-quality schools in place to accommodate new students and growing families here in Halifax," he told reporters.

Churchill said the Halifax Regional Centre for Education saw an increase of 1,500 students this year and that population growth has been a major driver of capital spending.

In September, the Nova Scotia government announced it was buying Newbridge Academy, a defunct private school in Dartmouth, and converting it into a new location for the francophone school board.

It will open in September of 2020, and will cost a total of $28.2 million.

The minister said the purchase of Newbridge will also help with the increase in enrolment numbers in the Halifax area.