RAINY RIVER — A new multi-million dollar school that will accept students ranging from preschool and kindergarten all the way up to Grade 12 in Rainy River now officially has a name.
In a press release issued Monday, the Rainy River District School Board announced that the board of trustees voted to name it Rainy River K-12 School. The only other moniker that was shortlisted for consideration was Rainy River Public School.
The naming process was guided by an ad hoc school naming committee, Heather Campbell, the director of education for the Rainy River District School Board, told Newswatch in an interview on Tuesday. That committee, she added, was made up of a supervisory officer, the school principal, the high school student trustee, another board trustee, members of the student body at large, and other people from the community.
The $30 million facility is scheduled to open in September 2025, in time for the 2025-26 school year, the board said, adding that things like school colours and its mascot will be done at the school level. It will replace the existing Riverview Public School and Rainy River High School.
“They really wanted to represent the two schools coming together,” Campbell said of the name choice. “And I know some people may not think that's really imaginative, but certainly, when you come from a community and you've gone to school, (at) one of those schools or both of those schools for many years and that those are the schools of your community, you want to represent and keep that memory still alive.”
Campbell said the naming process began last October and the committee sorted through “lots of different variations,” of names which referenced landmarks like the town’s namesake river, or aspects of the community’s history, like a former mill, before arriving at the final shortlist.
Securing the name is another big step in what’s been a roughly decade-long process to get the consolidated school built and ready to accept students. Originally, Campbell said that the province wanted the board to explore renovating the existing Rainy River High School to serve as the K-to-12 school’s home, but that option was deemed to be too cost prohibitive and led to discussions of constructing a new building. They were able to secure the site—which is next to the existing schools—through a land exchange agreement with the Town of Rainy River.
The site being right next to the existing schools is also important, Campbell said, adding that the board will be able to keep the existing track and play fields. “The wonderful thing about this is that we can design (…) those drop off and bus flow-through areas, so it gives us a lot of room to do some great landscaping and site design,” she said.
The facility is designed to accommodate 311 students, Campbell said. It will also include a daycare centre and an EarlyON Child and Family Centre.
“We're so excited that we're really near the end,” she said. “It's going to be exciting for the entire—not just the Rainy River community—but the other communities which it serves, and, certainly, I know that students and staff are excited to move into a new facility.”
