NEWS RELEASE: Perry Elementary School Students and Military Families Join District Leaders, Morse High School Army JROTC, to Celebrate National Veterans and Military Families Month With Construction Groundbreaking
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News Release
Perry Elementary School Students and Military Families Join District Leaders, Morse High School Army JROTC, to Celebrate National Veterans and Military Families Month With Construction Groundbreaking
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
SAN DIEGO - Oliver Hazard Perry Elementary School celebrated National Veterans and Military Families Month with a construction groundbreaking for its campus transformation and new joint-use field.
Held on Wednesday, November 8, the celebration included the Morse High School Army JROTC’s Color Guard, National Anthem singer, and Drum Corps. Each performed to Perry students, military families, and San Diego Unified School District leaders.
“It was perfect timing to have the groundbreaking fall on National Veterans and Military Families Month and right before Veterans Day,” said Micheline Morales, Principal of Perry Elementary. “What better way to celebrate this milestone than celebrating our military families and students.”
The campus transformation will bring three new buildings, a new grass playfield, renovations to classrooms and outdoor play areas, school security enhancements, removal of portable classrooms, and campus sustainability improvements.
Funded by San Diego Unified School District’s capital bond improvement program, the Whole Site Modernization and Joint-Use Field project includes two new kindergarten buildings with classrooms and collaborative workspaces and a new student services building with a lobby and student support offices.
“Every San Diego Unified School District student in every neighborhood deserves the best education and the best facilities,” said Dr. Lamont Jackson, Superintendent for San Diego Unified School District. “Perry is just one of many schools we are enhancing districtwide.”
Outdoor improvements for students include two new play structures with shade canopies outside the kindergarten and upper-grade classroom buildings, a new solar canopy behind the upper-grade playground, a new student quad, and new hardscape play areas.
Additional outdoor improvements for students and the community include a new joint-use field with a walking and running track, renovated basketball courts, a drinking fountain, newly planted trees, benches, fencing, and gates to separate the joint-use park from the main campus. The School parking lot will also be included as a joint-use feature. As part of the Play All Day partnership with the City of San Diego, the joint-use field will be accessible to the community after school hours and during school breaks.
Campus-wide upgrades include removing aging portable classrooms, renovating existing classrooms, upgrading the kitchen and servery, and adding new security lighting and cameras.
“The future of schools in my sub-district has never been brighter,” said Dr. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, Board of Education Trustee for District E. “From Lincoln to Crawford to Morse clusters, we are rebuilding and inspiring students as we go.”
Construction on the project at the third oldest school in the Morse Cluster is estimated to be completed in early 2026.
ABOUT PERRY ELEMENTARY
A UTK-through-5th Grade STEAM campus in the Lincoln Military Housing neighborhood of Paradise Hills, Perry Elementary School has served generations of students and military families for the past 69 years. Opened in 1954, Perry is named after American naval officer and hero of the War of 1812, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
Through its Primetime Program, Perry offers year-round before, after, and summer school learning opportunities and a full-time military counselor to help with the needs of all students and families.
RELATED LINKS:
Read more about the Play All Day Parks program here.
Drone video of the existing campus, a construction postcard, a fact sheet, and renderings can be found here.