School portables are on their way to Colville Lake, N.W.T., and expected to arrive in the coming days. That means the school will have the extra room it is seeking starting in the next academic year.

Trucks carrying the three new modular buildings were set to make their way from Enterprise this past weekend.

The long-awaited portables are meant as an interim solution until a new school is built in the community of around 150 residents. Plans are in the early stages for the new school.

The school’s 55 enrolled students are currently spread across four buildings. The main log building is separated into four rooms for students in Grades 4 to 12. High school students also use the youth centre for the school. Students from kindergarten to Grade 3 are in a different building and a fourth building is used for physical education classes.

Mitchell MacDonald, principal of the Colville Lake School, said the community is happy that there will be more space for teachers and kids to work in.

Two of the portable units will be used as classrooms while the third will be used as a washroom. Local district education authority and school staff will determine how the education rooms will be used, said Macdonald, adding that the new rooms will be a little further from the main building.

The portable buildings will be installed before the next school year and are intended as a stopgap measure until a new school building brings everything together under one roof.

The territorial government awarded the contract to build and transport the modular units to Edmonton-based Cube Construction Ltd. in 2022. 

Colville Lake residents originally expected the units to arrive in February 2024 but there were transportation and logistical delays.

Isabel Orlias, chair of the local district education authority, said she is relieved that the portable rooms will finally be delivered. 

“Our school really needs those extra classrooms for our students,” she said.