Catholic Vancouver April 27, 2023
Surrey Catholic school’s funding plan could be model for future
By Nicholas Elbers
Neither COVID nor a ditch-induced bureaucratic nightmare could ultimately stop the St. John Paul II Academy community as it finally gathered to celebrate the ground-breaking for the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s newest school.
Foundation board members pointed to a small, fishless waterway and its attached ditch as the chief impediment approval process cited by Surrey City Hall. Many environmental evaluations of the property were needed, and COVID slowed things considerably.
Regardless, the community is thankful that the $81-million project is finally under way.
“After seven and a half years, the time has finally come to build this great new campus,” Foundation Board Chair Troy Van Vliet told The B.C. Catholic.
“I don’t want to say ‘school,’” he added. “The school is already here; I don’t want that to be overshadowed by a building.”
His sentiment was echoed by students and teachers, who know one of the challenges that lie ahead is transitioning the small, intimate, community feel of the existing school to a shiny new 800-student facility expected to open in 2025.
“I have taught every student who has come through the school,” said one teacher as students repeatedly demonstrated the tight-knit nature of the community by coming up to him to say hello.
In attendance were school foundation board members, Principal Lorraine Paruzzolo, Archbishop J. Michael Miller, South Surrey—White Rock MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay, along with about 80 students and some of their parents.
A Star of the Sea Elementary student choir sang the National Anthem and provided additional music.
“We must also be grateful for our parent community,” said Van Vliet. “From Day 1, we have said this is a parent-led initiative, and our parents have never let up.”
Part of that parent support came from the academy’s innovative funding model, which combined Archdiocesan funding, such as Project Advance donations, with a buy-in program where parents invested money into the school’s development to secure registration.
Van Vliet told The B.C. Catholic, he thinks the program will be a model for archdiocesan schools in future, especially as development costs increase in the Lower Mainland.
Findlay, who was recognized as one of the school’s strongest political supporters, told the crowd how Catholic education had provided a strong foundation for her siblings, offering a moment of sympathetic solidarity for the girls wearing pleated skirts in the cold.
At the celebratory Mass at Star of the Sea Parish in White Rock, Archbishop Miller thanked everyone who had made the project successful, including the students, teachers, and board members.
The campus will transform the school from an idea “of hope – with a lot of faith – into a reality that we can see on the ground – something really sacramental,” he said.