Project Spotlight: Joan Carr Catholic Elementary School

​

Located in the growing Keswick community in southwest Edmonton, Joan Carr Catholic Elementary School is a vibrant new learning environment designed around a 21st-century education model. The $20 million, LEED Silver-certified facility accommodates up to 950 students in a bright, open, and engaging two-storey K–9 layout (currently serving K–7).

​

Spanning approximately 82,000 square feet, the school features two gymnasiums, a large food lab, a CTS woodshop, and a two-storey learning commons that serves as the heart of the building. The commons is flooded with natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows and includes a dynamic learning staircase that encourages collaboration and exploration.

​

The school’s design emphasizes openness, flexibility, and connection to the outdoors. Organized around “Learning Communities,” the layout gives teachers clear sightlines into shared breakout and wet lab spaces, fostering collaboration and creating a strong sense of belonging and identity for students.

​

A bold yellow feature wall highlights the main entrance canopy, creating an inviting and distinctive arrival point with convenient student drop-off access. Inside, kindergarten classrooms are warmed by in-floor heating, ensuring a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere for the youngest learners.

​

Principal Michelle Koshka describes the school’s learning commons as “a shift from a traditional library to a flexible, inclusive center for collaboration, inquiry, imagination, and play, where students expand and deepen their learning.”

Since opening its doors, Joan Carr has become a thriving hub for its community. Students cook yogurt bowls in the kitchen labs, celebrate Indigenous dances and cultural events in the gym, and build lasting friendships in a space designed to support growth, creativity, and connection.

​

Spaces Inc was proud to provide furnishings for this inspiring new school, including lounge seating for common areas, administrative workstations, student desks and chairs, and activity tables for guided reading and collaborative learning.