Chandler district unveils amphitheater, other elementary projects

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 5 bond election, Chandler Unified School District contractors completed three elementary school facility improvement projects paid for with 2019 bond money, with CUSD staff making efforts to promote ribbon cuttings.

Though the 2024 bond election failed, the 2019 bond covered improvements at Sanborn, Hull and Conley elementary schools.

The Oct. 31 Sanborn opening ceremony involved nearly all students and staff. The $1.8 million improvements include a courtyard amphitheater with sloped artificial grass, concrete seating and a flexible-material shade structure that covers hundreds of students, plus pickleball courts and some turfed “training areas.”

Improvements at Chandler’s Sanborn Elementary School include concrete seating and a shade structure for a courtyard amphitheater, turfed training areas and pickleball courts.

Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks

The Sanborn event included several current and former administrators, district leaders and contractor representatives.

Several spoke, including Superintendent Frank Narducci, Sanborn principal Adam McCoy and CUSD Board President Barb Mozdzen.
McCoy led the student body in a “Suns will shine bright” yell just after the ribbon-cutting.

Guests on the newly adorned stage at the event included the current Sanborn student president, Grenee Martacho, CEO of Concord General Contracting, which completed most of the work on the project, and former principals Caryn Cole and Diane Wells.

Another recently christened 2019 bond elementary project is the Coyote Innovation Center. The $1.9 million project at Conley Elementary School, unveiled Oct. 29, includes a garden, a culinary center, collaborative spaces, a library and a tech lab.

The $1.3 million Hull Elementary School media center, also funded through that bond, includes collaborative tech spaces and technology from the VEX Robotics company.

The district said, in a statement, a bond project at Frye Elementary School is due to be completed by Jan. 30 of next year. Bond projects at Navarrete, Bologna and Shumway elementaries are budgeted but work hasn’t begun at those sites yet.

A complete $32-million-plus, bond-funded rebuild of one of the district’s oldest elementaries, Galveston, also reached the grand-opening stage in October.

The “reimagining” process led to a $35 million proposed rebuild of Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary School. This was one of the most high-dollar single-site items on the Nov. 5 bond that failed.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

An innovation center was recently unveiled at Chandler’s Conley Elementary School.

Courtesy of Chandler USD

A media center was recently unveiled at Chandler’s Hull Elementary School.

Courtesy of Chandler USD

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.