The Queen Creek Unified School District has announced the name of its newest elementary school going up in Mesa – Mountain Trail Academy.

The district’s governing board approved the school’s name. Construction on Mountain Trail Academy is set to begin this month and it will open to students in the 2025-2026 school year.

"I want to thank the governing board subcommittee for their research, input, and behind-the-scenes effort in providing the board with naming options to consider," QCUSD Superintendent Perry Berry stated in a district press release.

Located near the intersection of East Galveston Street and South Mountain Road in Mesa, the 90,000-square-foot facility will serve as the learning space for the district's second STEAM- (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) focused school.

The construction and acquisition of land for this elementary school are funded by money awarded from the state School Facilities Division, which requires an extensive qualification process and is calculated based on schools approaching their capacity. Limited funding is allocated by the state over the course of two years.

QCUSD does not have bond funding for capital projects at this time, however, the governing board voted to place a measure on the November ballot asking residents to approve a maintenance and operations budget override to generate more money for districts schools. The override money would pay for special instructional programs, safety measures, maintaining small class sizes and more.

For information on the progress of the new elementary school, visit QCUSD’s Construction page at qcusd.org/Construction-Updates.