School Name History

Location

3614 Clearbrook Road, BC 

Opened

1952

The School

Clearbrook Elementary was built on farmland that was originally owned by the Helmstra family. This land was north of Clearbrook, away from the centre of town. It was chosen for the school site because it was expected that future development would happen north of Clearbrook. To prepare for this expected increase in people and traffic, Helmstra Road was built to connect Gladwin and Clearbrook Roads. The development didn’t happen as expected and that road no longer exists.

The school opened in 1952. It had three classrooms for one hundred twenty students from Grades 1-6. There were two grades in each class. A gym was added one year later, and two more classrooms followed in 1962. Ten-Broeck Elementary was built in 1966 to accommodate Clearbrook's growing population. The primary students of Clearbrook Elementary were sent to Ten-Broeck, so, for a while, Clearbrook school was for only intermediate students for a while. In 1971, it once again became an elementary school for Grades 1-7.

In 1985, Clearbrook became a dual-track French Immersion school, so its name became École Elémentaire Clearbrook Elementary School.   

Origin of the Name

The school is named after its community. At first the community was called Sandy Flats or West Abbotsford. The main road was named Clearbrook Road because it led from the town down to Clearbrook, Washington. That town was so named because it was near a “clear brook” that ran to the Nooksack River. It was a pioneer shopping centre for the earliest Canadian and American in the area. The road, first called Clearbrook Trail, was originally a route used by the Sto:lo people. In 1948, the community’s official name became Clearbrook.