Nebraska Town Breaks Ground on New High School

A groundbreaking ceremony was held this week for a new high school in Boys Town, Neb. The three-story, 110,000-square-foot facility will stand on the site of the small town’s previous high school, which was built in 1948 and was recently demolished to make room for construction. The project comes with a budget of $30 million and is currently scheduled for completion in August 2023.

“This school will serve as our incubator for educational concepts that we will teach to over 500 schools a year, including many right here in Nebraska,” said Father Steven Boes, Boys Town’s national executive director.

The facility will have the capacity for the district’s estimated 350 high-school students. About 80% of students arrive at the school with distinct academic deficiencies or behavior challenges, said a Boys Town spokeswoman, but 97% proceed to graduate from high school or continue their education.

According to local news sources, the village of Boys Town was founded in 1917 by the Rev. Edward J. Flanagan. Also known as “Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home,” the town is dedicated to the treatment, care, and education of at-risk children.

“This new education center will help Boys Town continue to provide a safe and inspiring learning experience for our students,” said Boes. “We continue to make improvements on our campus as the needs of our children change.”

According to the Boys Town website, the Boys Town Education Center will feature amenities like science labs, state-of-the-art technology, adaptive indoor and outdoor classroom environments, a Maker’s Space, a multilevel media center, common spaces, a quiet gathering space for prayer and meditation, and centralized offices for administration and the behavioral intervention team.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.

  • KWK Architects Announces Full Transition to Lawrence Group Branding

    KWK Architects recently announced that it will complete its transition to the Lawrence Group brand effective July 1, according to a news release. The merger marks the end of a three-year strategic integration process that began in March 2023 to unite the firms.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Reopens Following $25M Campus Modernization

    Haʻaheo Elementary School in Hilo, Hawaii, has reopened to students following a three-year, $25-million campus modernization and expansion project that significantly increases the school's instructional space while preserving one of the island's oldest educational institutions, according to local news.