Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

California District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/02/21

Officials from the Del Mar Union School District near San Diego, Calif., gathered at the end of June to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new elementary school. The June 24 event marked the first in-person event for district board and staff since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, and future Pacific Sky School students were in attendance with plastic shovels in hand.

“The sky’s the limit for this school, and the district couldn’t be more excited to break ground on our ninth campus,” said DMUSD Superintendent Holly McClurg. “It’s been long planned for the Pacific Highlands Ranch community, and we appreciate the community’s support and patience through this process.”

The new facility will measure in at 67,000 square feet and have a capacity of 480 students aged K–6. Amenities will include 20 classrooms, dedicated STEAM+ spaces, a combination multipurpose room / innovation center, a blacktop play area, and a sports field. OBR Architecture is the architect of record for the project, and construction will be done by the Erickson-Hall Construction Company.

“It feels like yesterday that the school was just an idea on an oversized page of the facilities master plan,” said DMUSD President Erica Halpern. “It really seemed farfetched at the time, since the district didn’t even own the land. It wasn’t even clear that we wanted to own the land or build a school. But our outreach process illuminated what we’ve always known to be a priority: neighborhood schools.”

The new school is currently scheduled to open to students on Aug. 15, 2022.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.