MEDIA ADVISORY
Perry Elementary School Students and Military Families to Join District Leaders, Morse High School Army JROTC, to Celebrate National Veterans and Military Families Month With Construction Groundbreaking
Monday, Nov. 6, 2023
WHAT:
Perry Elementary School students and members of the Morse High School AJROTC will join San Diego Unified leaders and military families in celebrating the start of construction for the school’s campus transformation and a new joint-use field.
WHEN:
Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023
8:30 - 9:15 a.m.
WHERE:
Perry Elementary School
6290 Oriskany Rd.
San Diego, CA 92139
*See the map below for the event location and media staging area.
VISUALS:
8:30 - 8:40 a.m. - Morse High School AJROTC Display of Colors, National Anthem and AJROTC Drum Corps Performances
8:40 - 8:48 a.m. - Speakers
8:48 - 8:53 a.m. - Shovels to the Dirt
8:53 - 9:15 a.m. - Photo Opps, Media 1-1s, Classroom Tour
Drone video of the existing campus, a construction postcard, a fact sheet, and renderings can be found here.
SPEAKERS:
Dr. Lamont Jackson, Superintendent, San Diego Unified School District
Dr. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, Board of Education Trustee, San Diego Unified School District
Andy Field, Parks and Recreation Director, City of San Diego
Micheline Morales, Principal, Perry Elementary School
Students, Perry Elementary School
BACKGROUND:
A UTK-through-5th Grade STEAM campus in the Lincoln Military Housing neighborhood of Paradise Hills, Perry Elementary School has served generations of students and military families for the past 69 years.
Opened in 1954, Perry is the third oldest school in the Morse Cluster and is named after American naval officer and hero of the War of 1812, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
Now in 2023, the campus is undergoing a transformation that will bring three new buildings, a new grass playfield, renovations to classrooms and outdoor play areas, school security enhancements, removal of portable classrooms, and campus sustainability improvements.
Funded by San Diego Unified School District’s capital bond improvement program, the Whole Site Modernization and Joint-Use Field project includes two new kindergarten buildings with classrooms and collaborative workspaces and a new student services building with a lobby and student support offices.
Outdoor improvements for students include two new play structures with shade canopies outside the kindergarten and upper-grade classroom buildings, a new solar canopy behind the upper-grade playground, a new student quad, and new hardscape play areas.
Additional outdoor improvements for students and the community include a new joint-use field with a walking and running track, renovated basketball courts, a drinking fountain, newly planted trees, benches, fencing, and gates to separate the joint-use park from the main campus. The School parking lot will also be included as a joint-use feature. As part of the Play All Day partnership with the City of San Diego, the joint-use field will be accessible to the community after school hours and during school breaks.
Campus-wide upgrades include removing aging portable classrooms, renovating existing classrooms, upgrading the kitchen and servery, and adding new security lighting and cameras.
Construction on the project is estimated to be completed in early 2026.
Through its Primetime Program, Perry offers year-round before, after, and summer school learning opportunities and a full-time military counselor to help with the needs of all students and families.
PARKING MAP:
Media can park in the decomposed granite lot located through the parking lot along Oriskany Road. See map.
RELATED LINKS:
Read more about the Play All Day Parks program here.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jamie Ries, Information Services Specialist, San Diego Unified, (619) 855-9283, jries@sandi.net.