The school district held a sod-turning ceremony for the new K-8 Wednesday. (Submitted)

Work has begun on a new K-8 school in Riverview, N.B., but the district is already close to surpassing the increased capacity.

The $21.6-million school in the community near Moncton is being built off the Old Coach Road. It will have room for 650 students and is scheduled to open in September 2013. It will replace two existing elementary schools.

But Gregg Ingersoll, superintendent of Anglophone East School District, said overcrowding would still affect Riverview’s schools.

"The elementary schools, the middle school and the high school are all operating very close to their capacity. There's very little [extra] space at Riverview,” he said.

“This school here is going to go a long ways to alleviating that pressure; at least in the short term."

Baby boom

Ingersoll said the Gunningsville Bridge connecting the town to Moncton spurred development from 2005. As a result, the schools are filling up.

"This year in our school district our kindergarten enrolments are up almost 120 students from what we had last year, which is quite a big change for kindergarten,” he said.

“That is going to work its way through the system for the next 13 years."

Ingersoll said Riverview High School is full. While there are no portable classrooms in use, he said there could be in the future as those kindergarten students reach high school.