KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo Public Schools will be breaking ground this week on their latest school construction project.
They will be building a new home for their popular El Sol Elementary School, a magnet school that provides an immersive Spanish language education program for students from all over the district.
Facilities Director Karen Jackson says voters approved funding in 2022, and planning started in 2024.
“This is an 87,000 square foot building, it took 16 months to finalize, it will take another two years for us to construct it, we plan to open it in August of ‘28.”
She says the construction bids came in under budget.
“We’ve received 81 bids on the project and there will be more to come, we will have to bid out technology equipment, we still have to bid out furniture, this isn’t the end but this is the beginning of a very fun and exciting project.”
Since El Sol’s beginning, it has been wedged into a century old structure on Vine Street that has been used for several different purposes by the district during its long lifetime.
The new building will include athletic and playground facilities and amenities that just weren’t possible at their current location, including the option to expand the dual-language curriculum to additional grade levels.
The groundbreaking will take place at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the site at 1428 Baker Street in Kalamazoo Township.
That is the site of the former Brucker Elementary School.
Comments