The Greendale community is a rural area on the western side of the District of Chilliwack. The school has always played a central role in the community. Some students are the fourth generation of their family to attend this school. Students attending Greendale come with strong family support. Parents are an active part of the day-to-day activities at the school.
The school resides on the traditional unceded territory of the Pilalt, Sema:th, and Ts’elxwéyeqw people.
The School District of Sumas was originally conceived on October 13, 1871, and came to life on November 20, 1871, when a school under Mr. Alexander Peers was opened in a building rented from the government for $5.00 per month.
Early in the spring of 1873 a new school was opened on a half-acre of land donated by Mr. George Chadsey.
The first school was located on the south side of Yale Road West near Henderson Road.
The second school was located on the south side of Yale Road West across from what used to be the Sumas United Church at. the intersection of Yale Rd. West and Adams Road.
In October 1927 the first two rooms of the present school were opened. Those rooms are presently occupied by the library and grade six. At the time of the opening Miss Stade taught grades one to four in one room while Miss Owen taught grades five to eight in the other.
What is now the covered play area was the woodshed where fuel for the classroom stoves was stored. Near the north fence a shed sheltered the horses of those who rode to school.
Following the influx of settlers in the 1930's the roof was raised and two additional rooms were added on the west side about 1939. These rooms became grade five and grade seven classes.
Electricity arrived at the school in 1934.
The overcrowding of the 1940's resulted in the two rooms at the south end of the building being added in 1946. Grades three and four now occupy one room and grades two and three are in the other.
During the flood of 1948 water in the basement measured 5 feet 8 inches. If you visited the school you would be shown the high water mark in the furnace room.
The name was changed from Sumas Public School to Greendale Elementary School during the 1950-51 school year.
The kitchen and activity room were added in 1950.
Further population growth was relieved when the three roomed Chadsey Elementary
The first kindergarten classes in 1968 were held in the activity room, later in the Sumas United Church Hall on Yale Rd. W. The kindergarten classroom was added in 1970.
The last addition to the old building was in August 1973, when a portable classroom was moved to the site. At the same time the school library moved out of a small basement room to its present location upstairs.
Most of the school was destroyed by fire in September 2000. The damaged portion of the school was re-built and re-opened in September 2002. At that time, Grade 1 and 2 students from nearby Chadsey Elementary joined the student population at Greendale.
Greendale is also a community school. Our doors are open to many community opportunities (e.g. after-school programming, evening exercise classes, booking space for church activities, special events, birthday parties, etc.), and we work in partnership with other local community groups to plan events that keep this community strong.
According to provincial and district standards, Greendale Elementary has consistently demonstrated strong achievement in Reading, Numeracy and Writing. School-level assessment, data analysis, and teacher professional judgment have steered us towards our new goal in focusing on student thinking strategies, especially in relation to comprehension and problem-solving.
The staff at Greendale care about the success of all students. They work hard as a collaborative team to ensure that all students succeed and work to the best of their ability.