Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Construction Begins on New Denver Middle/High School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/20/21

Construction on a new middle/high school has begun in the Denver Community School District in Denver, Colo. The new facility will relieve space and capacity issues at the district’s existing school buildings, as its elementary, middle, and high schools currently share a single campus. The new middle/high school will be built separately.

It will be attached to the Cyclone Center, the Denver High School athletic facility built in 2017. Construction of the Cyclone Center was Phase I of a continuing construction and expansion project for DCSD. “We always knew we wanted to upgrade our facilities to match the quality of education that our kids are receiving,” said Denver Community School District Superintendent Brad Lauers.

The $16.44-million, 75,500-square-foot middle/high school is scheduled to open in fall 2022. It will initially welcome 500 students in grades 6-12, but it has the capacity to hold up to 800 as enrollment expands. The district has welcomed 100 new students to its population during the last three years.

The existing school facilities are being pushed to their limits. Storage spaces have been converted into classroom, and an outdoor weight room has become the school’s music room. “It was time to stretch out a little bit,” said Lauers. “We’re a growing community, a growing district, and this will allow us to meet the needs of our students.”

Bids for the project came in slightly higher than expected, and as a result, a planned wrestling room was going to be scrapped. However, the school’s wrestling club is fundraising with a goal of $275,000 to be able to include the space in the new building.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Tomball ISD Opens New Tomball West High School

    Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas, recently celebrated the official opening of Tomball West High School, the district's third comprehensive high school, with a community ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a district news release.