The Chula Vista (California) Elementary School District has opened its first new campus in nearly two years.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Sonia Sotomayor Elementary has 450 students, many from Saburo Muraoka Elementary. That number is expected to grow to 1,100 students across 43 classrooms, Superintendent Eduardo Reyes says.
The school has been named for Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court.
The district needed a school near Otay Ranch to serve families in new housing developments in east Chula Vista.
“You’ll see some apartments that haven’t yet even opened up, but that is how quickly our school is projected to grow in the next five years,” said Principal Martha-Irene Garza.
Garza said the school was designed with three key qualities in mind: collaboration, flexibility and comfort. Classrooms were built to include movable furniture, various seating options and nature-inspired “biophilic” designs. The goal, she said, is to accommodate students’ varying educational needs.
