Chandler Unified School District celebrated the grand opening of its rebuilt Galveston Elementary School on Oct. 8, according to a news release.

Called a “campus reimagination project,” the north Chandler school, originally built in the early 1960s, the rebuild phase of the $35 million project recently opened its doors to welcome students, teachers and faculty.

The rebuild phase, where construction began in September 2023, features a 53,000 square-foot, two-story classroom building; a 7,000 square-foot administration building; and a 21,000 square-foot multipurpose gymnasium facility.

Chandler Unified School District’s recently rebuilt Galveston Elementary School, where a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Oct. 8, is one of the few two-story elementary schools in the Valley.

Courtesy of Chandler USD

It’s built on what had been a park-like grassy and tree-lined third of the Galveston site.

The second and final phase of the project starts with the demolition of the older buildings. Then, the vacated third will be used for new athletic fields, a soccer/flag football field, a baseball field, two outdoor basketball courts and a playground.

The entire project is set to be completed in February 2025.

“Generations of families have attended this great school which has been a staple in Chandler for decades,” CUSD Superintendent Frank Narducci said in the release. “A rebuild of this caliber which is future-focused while maintaining the school’s legacy means many more generations will have the opportunity to experience Galveston’s unwavering tradition of excellence.”

The two-story classroom facility houses pre-K through third grade with grades 4-6 upstairs. Both levels have open-concept hallways equipped with partial walls, flexible seating and TV monitors throughout.

The campus’s primary gateway is the new administration building, marked with a Galveston Elementary School sign atop. This facility houses a secure reception area, faculty offices and a nurse’s office for students.

Throughout construction, students, faculty, and staff members were provided with quarterly tours throughout the project to witness their new campus vision coming to life. The project team provided numerous educational touchpoints, leveraging the project as a STEM learning experience.

Located at 661 E. Galveston St., the 11-acre campus alongside the Chandler CARE Center, the school serves more than 400 students from preschool through sixth grade now. Its new capacity will be 750 students.

Funding for the project came from the 2019 CUSD bond.

Campus features include:

• The campus’s new multipurpose building serves as a cafeteria, gymnasium and performing arts center, equipped with an indoor stage that opens to the outdoor amphitheater.

• Floor-to-ceiling dividers within the multipurpose building that can be opened or closed to allow for simultaneous lunch periods and physical education classes. The building also contains large roll-up glass doors to allow for indoor and outdoor dining.

• Thirty-one classrooms with fold-up glass wall door systems, providing access to various 85-inch interactive screens mounted throughout the hallways. These screens sit on adjustable mounts to adapt to the varying height needs of each grade level.

• Multiple “literacy rooms” — in lieu of a central library — for each grade level. Each has grade-appropriate books to encourage collaboration among classes.

• A separate public entrance to the multipurpose building for school community events and performances.

• Security features, including card-reader access controls on all doors and forced-entry-resistant glass at all entrances.

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The multipurpose room of Chandler Unified School District’s recently rebuilt Galveston Elementary School can be divided for multiple uses at the same time, such as performing arts, meals and athletics.

Courtesy of Chandler USD

Chandler Unified School District’s recently rebuilt Galveston Elementary School doesn’t have a central library, but does have several grade-specific “media literacy centers.”

Courtesy of Chandler USD