MEDIA ADVISORY
Taft Middle and Kearny High School Students to Join District, City Leaders, and Community in Celebrating the Public Opening of Serra Mesa's Newest Joint-Use Field and Park
June 2, 2023
WHAT:
San Diego Unified School District and City of San Diego representatives will join Taft Middle and Kearny High School students, and the Serra Mesa community, to celebrate the public opening of the newly completed joint-use park at Taft Middle.
WHEN:
Monday, June 5, 2023
9:15 - 10 a.m.
WHERE:
Taft Middle School*
9191 Gramercy Dr.
San Diego, CA 92123
*See the event location map with the media staging area below.
VISUALS:
9:15 - 9:18 a.m. - Kearny High School AJROTC Color Guard Display of Colors
9:18 - 9:20 a.m. - Student Leads Pledge of Allegiance
9:20 - 9:30 a.m. - Speakers
9:30 - 9:35 a.m. - Countdown to ribbon-cutting, ribbon-cutting, photo opps
9:35- 10:00 a.m. - Kearny High basketball players play basketball with Taft Middle students, media 1-1s
Drone video of the completed field and a project fact sheet can be found here.
SPEAKERS:
Shana Hazan, Board of Education Vice President, San Diego Unified
Raul Campillo, Councilmember, City of San Diego
Hortencia Garcia-Rubio, Principal, Taft Middle School
Jamarian Hall, 8th Grade ASB Student and Athlete, Taft Middle School
Student Speakers
BACKGROUND:
The newly completed joint-use park at Taft Middle School includes a grass playfield, a walking/running track, hardcourts for pickleball, tennis, and basketball, exercise equipment, new trees, benches, a drinking fountain, secure perimeter fencing, security lighting, and a parking lot with an access road.
As part of the Play All Day partnership with the City of San Diego, the joint-use park will be accessible to the community as a local park after school hours and during school breaks.
Part of San Diego Unified's capital improvement program, the park opens to the public after school hours on Monday, June 5, 2023.
A 6th through 8th-grade campus, Taft offers classes in Spanish, theater, art, common core mathematics, and engineering. As part of its Prime Time option, Taft offers before-and-after school programs in extracurricular activities and tutoring.
First led by Principal and San Diego Unified School District's notable Eugene Brucker, Taft Middle School opened its doors to the Serra Mesa community in 1962.
The city also contributed funds for the joint-use park.
PARKING:
Media can stage in the joint-use field parking lot. See the map below for guidance.
Jamie Ries, Information Services Specialist, San Diego Unified, (619) 855-9283, jries@sandi.net.