From bricks to buildings: MUSD construction update

Maricopa Unified School District is growing, and growing some more. At the end of the 2005-2006 school year on May 25, there were 3,134 students enrolled in Maricopa public schools. The majority of them are elementary students, grades K-5; 2,559 of them are expected to be in classrooms next month.

That figure may very well increase due to the many families whose homes are finished, and who are now moving to Maricopa. In order to meet the district’s growth challenge, new schools must continue to be built, and, currently, two new sites are going rapidly from bricks to buildings.

Maricopa Elementary School at Alterra will open “most” of its doors on August 21.

According to the update provided to the governing board last week, Maricopa Elementary School at Alterra is on schedule. Both architect Don Brubaker and construction manager David Bradley confirmed that one classroom building would be ready for occupancy in August, with the library open a week or so later. “The bus drop area is paved, the back fields are planted and the south wing for classrooms is nearly complete,” explained Bradley. He offered a slideshow detailing the work in progress. “The critical thing is that all the parts and pieces are in place that we need,” he added.

In actuality, Maricopa Elementary School will have a late start, opening on Monday, August 21, with its academic year ending on June 7. Principal Bonnie Gibson explained that some classes would double up in a team teaching situation for about eight weeks. At that time the second classroom wing for the upper grades will be completed, as will the cafeteria. Originally targeted for mid-October, those areas will probably be ready for occupancy at the end of that month.

Maricopa Elementary’s Assistant Principal Matthew Montoya and Principal Bonnie Gibson.

Maricopa Elementary will be accommodating approximately 1013 students in grades K-5. Students will be coming from the Ak-Chin Community, Hidden Valley, Thunderbird Farms, Maricopa Meadows, Desert Cedars and, of course, Alterra. The school day will begin at 7:50 a.m. and end at 2:20 p.m.

Maricopa Wells Middle School is scheduled for completion within the coming school year.

The second district work in progress is Maricopa Wells Middle School, which, when completed, will be the academic “home” for Maricopa students in grades 6-8. Originally it was hoped that the campus would be completed by mid-year; however, the most recent estimates are for the end of the next school year, about May 2007.