The City of Kingston announced Friday that the Limestone District School Board will build a new elementary school in Westbrook to help meet growing demand driven by residential development and urban expansion. The project is part of a $1.6-billion provincial investment supporting 79 school projects across Ontario.
LDSB has received $21.4 million in provincial funding to build a school that will accommodate over 400 students.
In September 2025, Kingston City Council submitted an application to the Ministry of Education for a new school building in the Westbrook neighbourhood.
Limestone District School Board Chief Executive Officer and Director of Education, Krishna Burra, gave a statement to YGK News about the importance of a new elementary school in Westbrook.
“This new elementary school is a significant provincial investment in the future of the Westbrook community and the students and families it will serve. As Kingston’s west end continues to grow, this new facility will provide modern learning spaces designed to support student achievement and well-being,” said Burra.
According to a report presented to city council by Watson and Associates Economists in 2024, Kingston West will see the most population growth in the next 25 years of any neighbourhood in the city.
Loyalist-Cataraqui Councillor Paul Chaves, whose district includes Westbrook, explained the growing demand for schools in the area.
“The population there has boomed; it’s almost as large as any other neighbourhood of which I have in that district,” said Coun. Chaves.
Coun. Chaves also described the condition of the current school in Westbrook, W.J. Holsgrove Public School and the need for a new elementary school.
“Holsgrove School is busting at the seams in regard to the number of students they have,” said Coun. Chaves. “I understand there are more portables than there are classrooms; it’s an old school, so it doesn’t have the same amenities as the new schools now have,” Coun. Chaves added.
The city of Kingston is proposing a land exchange in which the new school will be built in Westbrook Park, and the site of W.J. Holsgrove Public School will become a new park. MPP of Kingston and the Islands, Ted Hsu, hopes the new school can keep up with the growing demand in Kingston’s northwest area.
The proposed land exchange would move Westbrook Park to the current W.J Holsgrove school site (Screenshot from Google Earth).
In an interview with YGK News, Hsu detailed factors he’d like to be considered in the planning process of the new school.
“Sometimes you have a situation where you decide to build a school, and three years later the school opens, and by that time so much growth has occurred that they need to have portables or they’re already over capacity,” said Hsu.
Hsu believes that the recently constructed Catholic school in the west end neighbourhood of Woodhaven, St. Genevieve, is already at capacity and continues to grow.
“I would just want to make sure that the size of the school is appropriate for what we expect the student population to be in two or three years when the school is built and ready to open,” said Hsu.
While further details and construction timelines have yet to be announced, the City of Kingston and LDSB will host an information session for community members in the fall.
