​At Tuesday night's Board Meeting, the Lambton Kent District School Board of Trustees approved the recommendation of “Lambton Shores Community School" as the official, name for the new Forest Area K-12 School.

The Ad Hoc Naming Committee, which is comprised of representatives from LKDSB Administration, as well as the seven schools within the new school's catchment area, were commended for their thoughtfulness and diligence during what was a very extensive and involved process.

“Much work goes into choosing a name," explained Jayne Bryce, LKDSB Trustee and Chair of the Ad Hoc Naming Committee. “Each committee member brought their own unique set of loyalties and ties from the different region or school they were representing, of course, but each member also recognized that collectively, we are all moving forward together. We are not only building a new school but a new school community."

Committed to ensuring that the choosing of the name was a genuine community effort, the committee suggested to seek input on the new name from parents, students and community members using a variety of processes for input including, but not limited to, suggestion boxes in school offices and at community events, a community-wide survey, publications on the LKDSB and the area's school websites, articles in local newspapers, and direct correspondence with members of school communities.

“176 unique names were submitted by the public at large," explains Bryce. “That number was then narrowed down to 30, and then to 12, put back to the community for input once again, and then narrowed down to just two before the final name was chosen."

The school, which will consolidate students from Aberarder Central School, Bosanquet Central School, Kinnwood Central School and North Lambton Secondary School and include a two room Child and Family Centre and a one-room childcare centre providing 24 new childcare spaces, will be located on a site directly west of the Shores Recreation Centre in Forest, located in the Municipality of Lambton Shores. Students graduating from East Lambton Elementary School, Grand Bend Public School, and Hillside School will also start at Lambton Shores Community School in Grade 9. Construction is anticipated to begin in Spring, 2024.