Construction of the Algoma District School Board’s new Three Rivers JK-12 School in Blind River is on time and on budget, a senior official told trustees at their meeting Tuesday.
The board anticipates opening the school to students in the spring of 2026, said Joe Santa Maria, ADSB associate director of corporate services and operations.
“As we go into the spring of ‘26 and if it's ready in the spring we'll move kids in it at that time. If the school is ready we can transition over,” Santa Maria told SooToday.
The $50.5-million school will be shared by the ADSB and Conseil scolaire du Grand Nord and located on 30 acres of land at 158 Youngfox Road in Blind River.
The school will be the new academic home to students currently attending the ADSB’s W.C. Eaket Secondary School and Blind River Public School. Conseil scolaire du Grand Nord’s Ecole publique des Pins Blanc will move to Three Rivers from its current base within W.C. Eaket.
Mississauga First Nation and Serpent River First Nation are partners in the development of the school.
“We'll be consulting on the makeup of the culture room and what it's going to look like. While there's a French presence and an English presence, there will be a strong Indigenous presence in not just the culture room but in the signage and outdoor spaces,” Joe Maurice, ADSB superintendent told the board.
Letters to parents updating them on the progress of the school’s construction were sent out Friday, Santa Maria said.
“As we go through the process and get into the summer and the fall, we'll do the same. We’ll keep everyone updated as we go. We're working with our principals and in the near future we’re going to be doing a lot more work on the transition of the two schools into the one building.”
Construction of Three Rivers JK-12 School began in 2024.
“One of the initial project pieces that was necessary was rock excavation. At the beginning we saw that the site was heavily populated with rock and we had to remove a lot of it. The weather that we had this winter was also a challenge,” Santa Maria told the board.
Three Rivers JK-12 School is designed by Sault architectural and engineering firm IDEA.
The building is being constructed by Finnway General Contractor of Thunder Bay and several subcontractors.
“As the roof deck gets finished, probably in the next few weeks, all the other construction activities with the school will really take off and accelerate once it's closed in and away from rain and everything else,” Santa Maria said.
The province announced $50.5 million in funding for the project in November 2023.
The school will have 453 spaces for 269 elementary students and 184 secondary students. The building will also include 64 child care spaces.
A school-naming committee including school board officials, staff, students, community members and Indigenous community members announced in January 2024 that Three Rivers was picked from a short list of three possible names, the two others being Huron North and North Current.
Three Rivers was chosen because it includes the Mississauga River, Blind River and Serpent River, the three languages of English, French and Ojibway and the three communities of Iron Bridge, Blind River and Serpent River that the school will serve.