Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Nebraska Town Breaks Ground on New High School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/03/21

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

  • University of Kentucky Receives $150M Gift Toward New Arts District

    The University of Kentucky’s Board of Trustees recently received a $150-million gift from The Bill Gatton Foundation, according to a university news release, to build a new arts district on the campus in Lexington, Ky. The new district will feature a new College of Fine Arts building and a multi-hundred-seat theater, among other amenities.

  • Wisconsin District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    The School District of La Crosse in La Crosse, Wis., recently broke ground on a new elementary school that will consolidate the students and staff of two existing schools, according to local news. Funding for the school comes from a $53-million referendum approved in 2024.

  • LSU Breaks Ground on $200M Residential Project

    Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., recently broke ground on a new residential complex, according to university news. The South Quad residential project will consist of two buildings and add a total of 1,266 beds for freshmen students. The development comes with a price tag of $200 million, and it’s scheduled to open to students in fall 2027.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.