C.W. Driver Starts Construction on New, $54.5M Calif. Elementary School

Builder C.W. Driver Companies recently announced that construction has begun on Elementary School #15 for the Menifee Union School District in Menifee, Calif. The K–5 elementary school has a price tag of $54.5 million, will have a capacity of about 600 students, and is scheduled for completion in July 2024, according to a news release.

Campus amenities will include 23 classrooms, an administration building, a kindergarten building, food service kitchen, multipurpose room, and library. Outdoor facilities will include play and track fields, as well as playgrounds. The buildings will be arranged in a horseshoe configuration across 46 acres, the release reports.

The district also partnered with DLR Group | BakerNowicki for architecture and design services.

“This is the second school we’ve worked on for Menifee Union School District, with Menifee Valley Middle School being the first,” said C.W. Driver Companies project executive Andy Feth. “In that instance, it was an intricate expansion of an existing campus, while this is a completely new build from the ground up.”

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.