With many young families moving to the western communities of Greater Victoria, the local Sooke School District found themselves with a need to quickly build more schools for some 1,200 elementary- and middle-school-age students.

Seeking community input for the projects at every juncture, the district would ultimately name the new schools PEXSISEN Elementary — meaning “the opening of hands,” as named by the Songhees First Nation, and Centre Mountain Lellum Middle School — meaning “house” and “the idea of community, where we raise our children” as named by the Beecher Bay Nation.