TORONTO -- Two much-needed schools have finally opened up inside one of the city’s fastest growing neighbourhoods, bringing an end to a challenging commute for hundreds of children.

The two new schools - Jean Lumb Public School (TDSB) and Bishop Macdonell Catholic Elementary School (TCDSB) – officially opened their doors to students on Monday morning.

The schools, which will each accommodate about 550 students in kindergarten through Grade 8, are located inside a new multi-use facility that has been constructed adjacent to Canoe Landing Park in the CityPlace neighbourhood.

The schools will share a gym, library and outdoor play area but will otherwise operate independently.

“This is a dense party of the city but the answer is not to have no schools for the kids. There are lots of families living down here and I think this is a fantastic day to not only have one school but to have two schools open together,” Mayor John Tory said after greeting students arriving for their first day of classes.

“We will manage things like traffic but it is much better than having people have to go miles and miles away to go to school because that just doesn’t build a community and it is not fair to the parents or the kids.”

CityPlace, which is located on the former railway lands to the west of the CN Tower, has seen its population explode in recent years, going from about 1,100 residents in 2006 to 11,658 in the most recent census (2016).

At the same time, community infrastructure has lagged behind.

There was a library branch opened in the neighbourhood back in 2014 but construction only began on the facility that houses the two new schools in 2017.

The schools were initially slated to open this past September but construction delays pushed their opening date back four months.

Tory said that most of the children attending the new schools were previously bused or driven to facilities elsewhere in the city with a large number of them attending Nelson Mandela Park Public School, which is nearly five kilometres away.

“I can tell you just from talking to parents that they are thrilled,” he said. “They are all so relieved because their kids can now walk a few minutes as opposed to having to take a car or bus.”

Facility will also host recreation centre

The new multi-use facility that houses the schools will eventually be home to a recreation centre and child care centre as well. Those facilities are expected to open sometime this spring.

Speaking with CP24 on Monday morning, the councillor for the area said that the facility could be a model to follow as the city continues to build dense, high-rise neighbourhoods like CityPlace.

“This is a new way of building not just towers but building neighbourhoods in booming downtown Toronto and if we are going to grow as a city and continue to grow up with more towers we need to continue to build more community hubs like this,” Spadina-Fort York Coun. Joe Cressy said.