SOLEDAD — Crosswalk guards escorted hundreds of students from Soledad’s Main Street Middle School last Friday afternoon, capping the first week of the academic year on Aug. 16.
The middle school also saw its first week of use since completing construction earlier this year. School officials held a ribbon cutting celebrating the school’s opening in June.
The school was funded by Measure C, which was approved by voters in 2012, and a reauthorization bond in 2018 for a total cost of $55 million. Construction took about three-and-a-half years.
The roughly 106,000-square-foot new building includes a total of 41 classrooms, including six science classrooms, two STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) classrooms, music and drama classrooms, a library, learning center, a multi-purpose room consisting of a gymnasium, locker rooms, auditorium and a stage and snack bar area.
The library will be remodeled into a professional development facility.
Principal Lois Peterson said the school hosted a back-to-school night on Aug. 14, which attracted about 500 people.
“What has been done to make this state-of-the-art building possible is incredible,” Peterson said in June. “We are striving for excellence.”
