New Bend middle school groundbreaking set
The community is invited to celebrate the start of construction of Bend’s newest middle school with a groundbreaking ceremony and student performances on Tuesday, June 10th at 10 a.m.
The school site is located off of Skyliners Road, between Summit High School and W.E. Miller Elementary School, in Bend. Attendees are advised to wear footwear appropriate for a construction site.
Superintendent Ron Wilkinson says the new 800-seat middle school will help balance enrollment at Bend’s four middle schools, three of which are near, or over, capacity today.
“We are thankful to our community for their support of new schools in our growing community,” Wilkinson said. “We have gained more than 4,000 new students in the last 15 years and are projected to grow by another 3,000 in the next decade, so the timing on the construction of this new school is just right.”
The new middle school is set to open in the fall of 2015.
“Since new schools are built to balance enrollment, site boundaries will need to be redrawn,” said Wilkinson. “The community will be invited to participate in the school boundary discussion, which is set to begin this Fall.” All elementary and middle school boundaries will be reviewed and could be redrawn during the analysis, Wilkinson added.
ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION BOND
On May 21, 2013 citizens of Bend, La Pine and Sunriver approved a ballot measure, with the highest percentage YES vote in history, to build new schools and fund projects that protect our community’s investment in its schools and facilities. These projects will support economic growth and prosperity and go far to protect our quality of life now and for future generations. ?
The approved bond measure authorized Bend-La Pine Schools to sell $96 million in bonds to fund the construction of two new schools to address continued enrollment growth and to deliver more than 130 other safety, maintenance, and classroom addition projects on the community’s behalf.
