Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

U.S. Virgin Islands to Build First New School in Almost 30 Years

  • By Matt Jones
  • 03/06/23

Architecture firm DLR Group recently announced that in partnership with the Virgin Islands Department of Education, it held a groundbreaking ceremony on Feb. 23 for a new PreK–8 school in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The $159-million, 145,000-square-foot project will be the first new school construction in the territory in almost 30 years, according to a news release.

“It’s been a long road to get to this point, and in the wake of two back-to-back storms, we have been presented with the opportunity and the resources to make this day possible,” said Education Commissioner Dr. Dionne Wells-Hedrington. “The new Arthur Richards PreK–8 School will set the bar for schools across the Caribbean, allowing us to transform today’s learners into tomorrow’s leaders.”

Virgin Islands Arthur Richards PreK–8 School
Renderings Courtesy of DLR Group

The new school will stand at the site of the former Evelyn M. Williams Elementary School, according to the news release. DLR Group and the Department of Education are also partnering with the MCN/Perkins Eastman Design Build team, as well as local architecture firm Jaredian and local builder GEC.

“Seven years ago, we had no idea what we were going to do with this site, and here we are today, getting ready to break ground on the first new school in thirty years,” said Governor Albert Bryan Jr. “It has taken a long time to get to this point and we have so much more work to do. So today, as we dig this earth, let’s make a solid promise to ourselves that we are going to be part of the team focused on moving the Territory forward.”

Virgin Islands Arthur Richards PreK–8 School

According to Office of Disaster Recovery Director Adrienne Williams-Octalien, federal partners including FEMA—as well as allowances within the Bipartisan Budget Act—helped make the construction possible. “FEMA has approved the replacement of seven schools in both districts, to include the Claude O. Markoe School in Frederiksted,” she said. “We are grateful for the opportunity afforded to us by our federal partners, not just to rebuild, but to transform the Territory’s education system and provide an environment for our children to learn, develop, and grow.”

The project is scheduled for completion in July 2025, according to the news release.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Announces 2026 Product Award Winners

    Spaces4Learning has just announced the winners of the 2026 Product Awards! The award program spotlights outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered to be particularly noteworthy in their ability to enhance K–12 and higher-education learning environments.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • Philadelphia Middle School Facility Earns LEED Gold Certification

    The Alternative Middle Years (AMY) at James Martin Middle School in Philadelphia, Penn., recently received a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The School District of Pennsylvania partnered with KSS Architects on the project.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.