GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Construction crews are making progress on a new four-story high school for Grand Rapids Public Schools.
The school is located near the corner of Grandville Avenue and Rumsey Street on Grand Rapids' Southwest side.
It's all part of a $20 million project that will expand the Southwest Community Campus dual immersion Spanish-English program. The development also includes a healthcare clinic with a new pharmacy and another 48 units of affordable housing.
The school will be a GRPS "theme school" with a customized curriculum, so there will be a special application process and an attendance area boundary encompassing the entire Roosevelt Park neighborhood.
We spoke to the project superintendent who says the school and medical center will come equipped with state of the art technology. "We are about 10 months into the project," said Jeff Brakefield, project superintendent for Rockford Construction. "We started last April with dirt work and clearing the site, and right now we have the building up. We are actually moving into finishes: drywall, paint, tile work, and ceilings, lights."
"Scheduled completion is in July, July 17th," he said. "And they will be moving in right after that with all their furniture and technology to be open for school in August."
GRPS says it is excited to expand and open a new innovative school, which is a sign of an urban school district on the rise.
