Lord Nelson Elementary is located on the ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) & səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). With deep respect and gratitude as a school community, we are unlearning and relearning on their shared territories. Lord Nelson Elementary School is a K-7 school with a population of approximately 480 students located in a diverse community in the northeastern section of Vancouver near Nanaimo Street and East 1st Avenue, known as Hastings Sunrise. Our students speak many languages including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Igbo, Dari, Farsi, Hebrew, Japanese, Nepali, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese and other languages at home. Of our population, 8% are English Language Learners. We have a small population of Indigenous students. Our school community of 20 divisions is broken up into 5 learning pods (Bear, Orca, Salmon, Wolf, Alder).

Our school is a new seismically built school completed in September 2019. It has three levels, the lower two are the school with 5 communities of students with 4 classes in each community. The third level of the building houses Frog Hollow - “The Village” at Nelson Childcare Program. “The Village” is an innovative partnership with the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver School Board. This partnership was designed to co-locate childcare with schools to help to build communities that are more walkable and family friendly. The Village offers programming for children from 3 months to five years of age and includes a school age program providing before and after school care to families. It is a great asset for the families and students here.

Generally, the strength of our school continues to be home-school relationships and our ability to meet the needs of diverse learners and provide opportunities and programs that enrich student learning. Valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion is central to everything happening in the Lord Nelson Elementary community. The teaching and support staff at Lord Nelson are actively engaged in a process of learning alongside the students. They are progressive in their thinking and teaching practice and they participate in ongoing professional development to further strengthen their knowledge base around literacy, social emotional learning, indigenous education, anti-racism education, social justice issues, and topics connected diversity, equity and inclusion. The students have well developed background knowledge and are well versed in issues around social justice. The parent community is actively involved in the education of their children and has high expectations for academic achievement.

The school thrives on a collaborative model where communities work together to develop programs and support students, this is done through inquiry learning and exploration. We offer many extracurricular opportunities at Nelson including opportunities in afterschool sports programs and ADST. We also offer many school service and leadership opportunities such as School Patrol, Primary Lunch Monitors, Student Council, Student Announcers, and Assembly Leaders. Nelson students are thriving in the areas of athletics, music, fine arts, and are provided with many project-based learning opportunities.