C.W. Driver Companies, a premier builder serving California since 1919, has broken ground on two modernization projects for San Diego Unified School District. The modernization of both La Jolla Elementary School and John Muir Language Academy will provide enhanced learning environments that optimize collaboration, enhance the educational experience and prepare students for the future.
“C.W. Driver Companies is proud to partner with San Diego Unified School District on the continued updating of its schools throughout the county,” said Keith Kauffman, Project Executive at C.W. Driver Companies. “We will leverage our extensive experience in building education facilities to deliver an engaging, collaborative environment while minimizing the impact of construction on students, faculty and staff.”
The whole site modernization of La Jolla Elementary School, which serves K-5 students, will upgrade the existing permanent buildings and add a two-story administrative and classroom building, kindergarten classroom buildings, lunch structure and an upper field restroom building. The administration and classroom building will create a single point of entry for the campus, and includes collaboration areas, restrooms and support facilities. An existing kitchen will be remodeled to provide an updated food service facility for students, and the current main campus administrative building will be converted to classrooms.
The modernization will also feature technology and infrastructure upgrades, outdoor learning areas, a maker space, larger parking lot and on-site student drop-off. Domusstudio architecture is the architect of record for the project. Funded by Prop S, Z and YY bonds, construction is expected to complete in 2024. Located at 7337 Girard Avenue, La Jolla Elementary is a 2018 California Distinguished School offering instruction designed to meet or exceed the new Common Core State Standards in literacy and mathematics and the Next Generation Science Standards.
The whole site modernization project for John Muir Language Academy, which serves grades K-8, will update all existing permanent buildings and add a new two-story classroom and physical education locker room building, new administration building and expansion to the kindergarten and kitchen buildings.
The project also includes reconfiguration of the existing parking and drop-off areas as well as the addition of a new staff parking lot with additional on-site drop-off. Baker Nowicki Design Studio is the architect of record for the project, and construction is expected to complete in 2023. Located at 4431 Mt Herbert Ave., John Muir Language Academy is a dedicated district magnet school focused on Spanish language immersion, global citizenship and Paideia ideology.
“As the second largest district in California serving more than 121,000 students in preschool through grade 12, providing optimized learning environments for our students is a top priority,” said Lee Dulgeroff, Chief Facilities Planning and Construction Officer at San Diego Unified School District. “We are confident that C.W. Driver Companies’ modernizations of La Jolla Elementary and John Muir Language Academy will enhance the educational experience and prepare our students for the future.”
C.W. Driver Companies is a leader in the construction of elementary, middle and high school spaces, having completed nearly 200 ground-up and modernization projects across Southern California. Other recent K-12 projects include Woodbridge High School’s Performing Arts Complex for Irvine Unified School District; Flintridge Preparatory School’s Bachmann Collaboration Building in La Cañada Flintridge, California; Menifee Valley Middle School New and Reconstruction project for Menifee Unified School District and a new K-5 school for San Diego Unified School District in the Mission Valley area of San Diego.
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