North Vancouver School District
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Mountainside Secondary
March 31, 2023

Ministry of Education and Child Care News Release

Students, staff and community members at Mountainside Secondary School are benefiting from the recent seismic upgrades to the school. >> Read More.


 

September 2, 2022

Project update

Overall, the seismic upgrade project of Mountainside Secondary School is complete, except for the final paving of the front parking lot. 

With respect to the final paving, progress has been hampered by supply chain delays, which have impeded delivery, installation and connection of a new underground water meter chamber. This work requires excavation within the main parking lot prior to being able to pave the lot. In addition, the project's civil contractor is in the process of revising the school's underground water main to connect to the new municipal water main that the District of North Vancouver has just installed along Mahon. 

The water meter chamber is anticipated to arrive September 12, and once the contractor has secured it, the school district can then schedule installation, but this too is weather dependent. The school district is targeting the end of September as a completion date.​



July 19, 2019

Letter to the community - Construction commencing


Please click HERE for a PDF version of this letter, which was delivered to homes within the area.


Residents in Proximity of Mountainside Secondary

3365 Mahon Avenue, North Vancouver, BC, V7N 3T7

 

Dear Resident(s):                                                       

Re: Seismic Upgrade Construction work at Mountainside Secondary

This letter is to inform local residents that the Mountainside Secondary Seismic Upgrade Project is starting in your local area.  Construction work on this project will run from July 17, 2019, to August 31, 2021, and will involve the following tasks:

    • Seismic remediation of Mountainside Secondary
    • Exterior buttresses, concrete work and site grading of Mountainside Secondary

During this project we will be working Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (complies with District of North Vancouver bylaws) and will be working inside and outside on the school property. The inside will be insulated to remove noise issues, but there will be work done outside with construction equipment, excavating machinery, trucking, concrete pumps, concrete trucks and deliveries that will cause some noise. We will try to keep the work that creates noise to a minimum during the early and late periods of our shifts to reduce the chances of disruption to the neighbourhood during these times.

We appreciate your understanding and look forward to completing the project with as little disruption to the neighbourhood as possible. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jeff Peters, Unitech Construction Management at 604-943-8845. Project status updates will be posted to the North Vancouver School District website: sd44.ca > Board of Education > Capital Plan & Projects > Capital Projects Updates - Revitalization & Renewal > Mountainside Secondary.

Yours truly,

Unitech Construction Management Ltd.

Sean Dickson, Superintendent


 


July 18, 2019

Design work complete and construction commencing


The architect, consulting team, and construction manager have completed the design for strengthening the school and construction activities are commencing over the summer of 2019.

 


March 8, 2019

Design process will now begin


The architect and consulting team have retained. Design planning will now being.



November 16, 2018

Tentative timeline:

  • Retain consulting team (December 2018)
  • Staff input (December 2018)
  • Retain Construction Manager (January 2019)
  • Design development phase (February 2019)
  • Construction document phase (June 2019)
  • Construction commencement (July 2019)
  • Project substantial completion (August 2021)
  • Project completion (September 2021)


November 16, 2018


Mountainside Secondary receives approval for a full seismic upgrade

Students attending a unique North Vancouver school soon will have a safer learning environment with provincial government funding of $23.7 million for seismic upgrades at Mountainside Secondary school.  

“We’re taking quick action to let students at this school know they will be safe in the event of an earthquake,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. “Mountainside offers a hub of extremely important programs that support flexibility in their education, and this investment supports the community so students can learn and play at their school for years to come.”

Mountainside is included in the ministry’s Seismic Mitigation Program as it has been assessed as having high structural seismic risk. Construction on the school is scheduled to begin in early 2020 and to be completed in fall 2021. Students will be able to remain in the school while the upgrades are underway.

“We are elated that Mountainside Secondary has received approval for a seismic upgrade. Once this project is complete, all high-risk schools in the North Vancouver School District will be seismically safe,” said Christie Sacré, chair, North Vancouver Board of Education. “The North Vancouver Board of Education has always worked hard with the Ministry of Education to ensure that our schools are not only seismically safe, but also are structurally updated to support 21st-century learning. This is the 15th project since 2007 to be seismically upgraded or rebuilt.”

Mountainside was built in 1959 as Balmoral Junior Secondary school and was converted in 2014 to house a variety of alternative education programs for students throughout the district. Mountainside’s specific programs focus on inclusion and student mental health. This includes the new two-year Social Emotional Learning and Positive Mental Health Hub project that the Province recently supported with funding of $225,000. 

Mountainside includes space for community partners to support the school’s programs, such as Vancouver Coastal Health, Hollyburn Family Services and North Shore Neighbourhood House. Students benefit from having these partners at the school to support student well-being and provide flexibility to help them be successful in their learning.

“It will be a huge relief for our families to know that Mountainside will no longer be vulnerable to an earthquake,” said Bowinn Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale. “The safety of our students is of utmost importance, and I’m so grateful to be part of a government that takes this responsibility seriously.”

Government is working to clear the backlog of seismic projects in B.C. by working with school districts and local governments to reduce the time it takes to plan and upgrade or replace a school.

Since September 2017, the Province has approved a total of $847 million in capital projects, including nearly $490 million for seismic upgrades or replacements. This includes the $62.3-million replacement of North Vancouver’s Handsworth Secondary school, which is scheduled to be ready for students in September 2021.

Quick Facts:

  • As of October 2018, 179 of the 347 schools in B.C.’s Seismic Mitigation Program have been upgraded or replaced, while 31 schools are either under construction or proceeding to construction.
  • Mountainside is the final school in the North Vancouver School District that requires seismic upgrades. Once complete, every school in the district will meet provincial seismic standards.

Learn More:

For more information about the Province’s Seismic Mitigation Program, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/administration/capital/seismic-mitigation

For more information about the Social Emotional Learning and Positive Mental Health Hub project at Mountainside Secondary, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018MMHA0033-001176