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Lemoore's Freedom Elementary School finished and will greet up to 370 students as school begins August 9
The new school in question, it turns out, is a state-of-the-art learning center, and it goes by the name of Freedom Elementary School. Coincidentally, Freedom Drive is about half a block from the new school site.
The new school, a bright and shining example of a modern school facility, has been under construction for a little over a year. Local officials held a groundbreaking in May of 2020 and predicted it would be completed in August by Bush Construction, a local construction firm.
The school is a welcome addition to Lemoore’s growing population. The funding for Freedom Elementary came courtesy of a 2018 bond, Measure D, that passed easily and raised about $26 million, and according to local officials, they spent just about every cent of the bond measure proceeds.
Freedom Elementary will join a healthy stable of schools that together educate well over 3,300 students. The district’s other schools include Liberty Middle School, University Charter School, Bridges Academy, Lemoore Elementary, Meadow Lane, P.W. Engvall, and Cinnamon School.
“This is a real milestone for our community, our city, and our students,” said Freedom’s inaugural principal, Tracy Cassina, a veteran of the local school district.
Superintendent Cheryl Hunt echoed Cassina’s words. “This is an exciting day for our students and our community,” she said.
She told the large audience, many of them finding some shade adjacent to the nearby buildings, that the school can hold 550 students. “And there is room for growth for (upwards) of 750 students.” She told The Leader she expects 370 students to enroll this year.
In recognition of former Lemoore Union Elementary School Board Trustee Myeisha Neal, who passed away in 2020, her son, Christian Neal, officially cut the ribbon declaring the school open. In her first run for office in 2016, Neal easily won her school board seat.
Hunt told The Leader that school begins in just a couple of weeks on August 9, and as of this date, students will adhere to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) mandates on schools and the Coronavirus which will likely require masks.
“We will be following the CDPH state guidelines or state recommendations and mandates for wearing a mask indoors, but our students will not have to wear masks outdoors at this time. And we’ll just keep up to date on what the guidance and mandates are that come our way, but we will be following the mandate, unfortunately,” said Hunt.
Hunt went to say that the new school will have 15 full-time teachers on staff along with a principal, learning coordinator and classified and office staff.
“We really sat down with our design team, Mandini, and Associates, to design a school that would be efficient and offers us the collaborative spaces in unique ways to meet our students’ needs,” added Hunt.
“We have indoor collaborative spaces as well as outdoor spaces for learning. We wanted to have a large area for our students to be able to play and also offer an area for the community to have access to, so they have a school within their neighborhood that they can be a part of,” she said.
“We’ve been on time and I’m excited to finally open the doors to our students and be able to serve them with a high-quality education,” Hunt concluded.
