Fresno County opens four new schools

One is built to look like an old-style farm with barn-type buildings and a silo. One has a cafeteria that converts into a performing arts center with theater lighting and a high-tech sound system.

Four newly built schools -- the only ones in the region -- have opened in Clovis, Central, Sanger and Kerman school districts in areas where population continues to grow and nearby older schools have grown overcrowded.

It's the first time in about five years that so many schools have opened at the same time in Fresno County, said Larry Powell, Fresno County's schools superintendent.

When planning for the schools was under way four years ago, home construction was booming, Powell said. Even though the population boom has slowed, the schools still were needed, and because contractors are bidding low to get work, districts saved millions of dollars building the schools when they did, he said.

Here is a look at the new schools:

Oraze Elementary

-- District: Clovis Unified

-- Location: Dakota and Armstrong avenues

-- School enrollment: 511 students

-- District enrollment: 38,000

-- Construction cost: $15.2 million

Clovis Unified's new school, which opens Monday, reflects the community's agricultural tradition with red barn-type buildings and a silo facade on the library/administration offices along the west side of the campus. The silo's inside is a library reading area.

Suzi Erickson, the school's principal, said Oraze Elementary was designed to "depict the rich agricultural way of life that is Clovis."

The school is named for Roger Oraze, a retired district administrator who had a 38-year career in Clovis Unified. It will feed into Reyburn Intermediate and Clovis East High School and relieve overcrowding at Miramonte, Temperance-Kutner and Reagan elementary schools.

Oraze is in a high-growth area of the city of Fresno and near the fastest growing part of Clovis.

Parent Danielle Padilla, who has three children starting Monday at Oraze, said she likes the school's design. Classrooms open to interior hallways and can be locked from inside, "so the kids can be safe and be watched a little closer."

Sequoia Elementary

-- District: Sanger Unified

-- Location: Armstrong and Church avenues

-- Enrollment: 300 students

-- District enrollment: 11,000

-- Construction cost: $14 million

The opening of Sequoia Elementary will relieve crowding at Lone Star and John Wash elementary schools, said Rich Smith, Sanger Unified's deputy superintendent. Sanger Unified has grown by an average of 200 students each of the past seven years, he said.

Without the new school, Smith said, busing costs would have grown. Sequoia, which opened Thursday, has a capacity of 700.

Glacier Point Middle

-- District: Central Unified

-- Location: North Bryan and West Ashlan avenues

-- Enrollment: 800 students

-- District enrollment: 14,700

-- Construction cost: $23 million

Central Unified also has grown by 200 students annually, said Michael Berg, district superintendent.

Glacier Point opened Aug. 10 on the Koligian Educational Complex near Central High School and relieves crowding at El Capitan and Rio Vista middle schools.

The school has campus-wide Web streaming and wireless hookups, Berg said. Its multiuse building/cafeteria has a stage with theater lighting and sound systems that can accommodate dinner-theater events, he said.

Goldenrod Elementary

-- District: Kerman Unified

-- Location: Goldenrod Avenue near Highway 180

-- Enrollment: 850 students

-- District enrollment: 5,000 students

-- Construction cost: $24 million

With the addition of about 100 new students each year, Kerman Unified needed a new school, said Robert Frausto, the district's superintendent.

Goldenrod Elementary, on the east side of Kerman just south of Highway 180, opened Wednesday; its capacity is 1,000.

While Kerman has not grown as quickly as areas adjacent to Fresno, Frausto suspects that families may be doubling up in homes, adding to the number of students.

An adjacent sports complex being built by the city of Kerman and the school district is nearly completed. It will have baseball fields with lighting and seating for 400, Frausto said, and will be a playground during the day. It opens in about six weeks, he said.

This story was originally published August 20, 2011 at 8:35 PM with the headline "Fresno County opens four new schools."