Santa Maria-Bonita Elementary Celebrates Construction Milestone

Santa Maria-Bonita School District celebrated a major construction milestone of its newest elementary school on Sept. 26. The California school district celebrated the project’s topping out by signing the final beam before it was lifted and installed at the top of the structure.

The two-story, $51 million school was designed by DLR Group and constructed by AMG & Associates. When completed in August 2020, it’s expected to accommodate up to 900 students in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade.

The 66,000 square-foot campus will feature 26 classrooms, a space for students enrolled in the district’s Therapeutic Learning Program, administrative offices, a multipurpose cafeteria/auditorium and play-fields.

"This is a unique design," Superintendent Luke Ontiveros told a local news station. "It really is built around 21st century skills, collaboration, communication, creativity. There's some learning areas outside of the traditional classrooms that we'll be able to maximize and take advantage. Besides the two-story design, it's really that programmatic piece that we'll be able to implement that really is going to make a difference in the futures of our children."

 The 66,000 square-foot campus will feature 26 classrooms, a space for students enrolled in the district’s Therapeutic Learning Program, administrative offices, a multipurpose cafeteria/auditorium and play-fields.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Porter Family Center

    Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • A digital silhouette works at a computer, immersed in a glowing, interconnected world

    How Will AI Transform Learning Space Design?

    For years, higher education has designed learning spaces around technology as a tool for display, capture, collaboration, and connectivity. AI changes that equation.

  • USC Launches Major AI Initiative After $200M Gift

    The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif., recently announced that it has launched a “transformational” new AI initiative thanks to a $200M gift, according to a news release. The project will leverage AI toward breakthroughs and innovations in subjects like the health sciences, business, security, and the arts.