Construction is underway on new Somerton elementary school

SOMERTON – The first of two new elementary schools to be served by the Somerton School District (SSD) symbolically began construction recently.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new school was held Nov. 19. The school will initially have eight classrooms, to serve students from kindergarten to sixth grade.

The new campus will be built on a site of about 10 acres, located south of Main Street and west of César Chávez Avenue.

Laura Noel, SSD superintendent, announced that the new school, along with the one to be built in San Luis starting next month, will be ready for classes in the next school year.

About $6.6 million will be invested in the campus, with resources approved by the Arizona Department of Education’s School Facilities Board (SFB).

“We greatly appreciated the support of the legislators in the area, because we had to go to the Legislature, since the funding per square foot was not enough, and in another month we will begin the construction of our first school in San Luis,” said Noel.

In 2019 the SFB initially approved $3.3 million for each new campus, but seeing that the funding would not be enough, the school district requested an increase in the cost per square foot, which was approved thanks to local legislators advocating for it.

Noel underscored the support of former State Representative Charlene Fernández and Sen. Lisa Otondo of District 4, as well as legislators from District 13: Tim Dunn, Joel John and Sine Kerr.

The most recent investment in infrastructure in SSD schools was four years ago, when classrooms were added at all schools to offer kindergarten classes, all with resources from a voter-approved override.

Noel noted that the new school is being built in an area of future housing growth and it’s close to Somerton High School, which is also now under construction.

The new elementary school is built by Pilkington Construction Co., on a 33-acre site donated by the Helen M. Daughton Trust, with land for expansion, and was designed by the DLR Group.

The construction will be almost parallel to that of the new campus to be built in eastern San Luis, as far as the jurisdiction of the SSD reaches, and from where 151 students are transported here to take classes.