District breaks ground for grades 5-6 school connected to Horizon Middle School
April 19, 2016
Students, parents, School Board members, administrators, teachers, City Council members and other community representatives turned the first shovels of ground on Monday, April 18 at the site of the new school connected to Horizon Middle School. Ambassadors from the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber also celebrated with the school district at the groundbreaking.
“It’s a good time to be in Moorhead,” said Mayor Del Rae Williams. “It’s a great time to be a Spud.”
Students attending the groundbreaking were representatives of the current grades 3-6 classes. These students will be grades 5-8 students on the Horizon campus when the new school opens in the fall of 2017.
“Our task forces led us to a plan that would shape our future,” said Superintendent Lynne Kovash. “As we discussed and planned, the decision was to provide an addition that would provide a separate school for grades 5 and 6 students, but would provide the transition from elementary school to middle school. Today we are here to start the process of building the new grades 5-6 school attached to Horizon Middle School. As we honor our past today and those people who had a vision for a bright future for Moorhead Schools, we also honor all of our school community members who will help shape the future.”
Results of Moorhead Area Public Schools’ long-range facilities planning efforts and passage of the Nov. 3, 2015 bond referendum led to the groundbreaking.
The Moorhead School Board awarded the first $18.2 million in construction bids for the new middle school at a special meeting April 14. Bids for bid group one came in 14.6 percent below estimated costs. The site and foundation work for the new 198,573-square-foot grades 5-6 school connected to Horizon Middle School begins this month.
The grades 5-6 school will include two two-story academic wings with four learning communities or houses in each wing. Each team space includes six classrooms, large group and active learning space, special education space and nearby locker bays. The core facilities include a media center, music and art classrooms, a double gymnasium, commons and office space.
Updates on the construction project will be available on the district’s website at www.moorheadschools.org as work progresses.
A groundbreaking for the new K-4 elementary school is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 4.
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