School Name History

Location

2527 Gladwin Road, Abbotsford, BC

Opened

1968

The School

Centennial Park Elementary bears the name of the park that is across the street. The park is named in honour of Canada’s Centennial, a yearlong celebration in 1967 to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. Communities were encouraged to engage in Centennial projects. These ranged from special one-time events to local improvement projects such as construction of municipal arenas and parks. The Centennial Train and Caravans, the Centennial Medal, the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill, and numerous music and sporting events across the nation marked the national event. On the international level, the successful Expo 67 World’s Fair in Montreal attracted fifty million people.

Origin of the Name

The school began construction in 1967. In September 1968, because of construction delays, the classes were temporarily housed in the Good Shepherd School. Centennial Park Elementary was ready to open its doors in November 1968. Only one hundred students were expected, but the opening of the nearby Allwood Trailer Park swelled the numbers to one hundred thirty.

The school started as a pilot project of an open, individually paced learning environment with two large teaching rooms separated by a dividing hallway. Two classes, organized into groups of four to six students, worked in each room. The population in the area was the fastest growing in the district. The school accommodated the increasing number of students in portables and rooms rented from the nearby Alliance church. In 1971, the school added eight new classrooms, offices, and a gym. It also discontinued the pilot project and adopted a mainstream approach to education. Five years later, a library and change rooms for the gym were added.

This school was one of the first French immersion schools in the district, beginning an early French immersion program in 1979. This school became one of the first dual track (French and English) schools in the district, adding an early French immersion program in 1979.

The program grew to include Kindergarten to Grade 7, but when middle schools were introduced in the early 2000s, Centennial Park moved to a grades K-5 program.