Chula Vista School Elementary School District will open its first new school in nearly two years, Sonia Sotomayor Elementary, this month to hundreds of children in fast-growing east Chula Vista.
The school’s inaugural class consists of 450 students, many from Saburo Muraoka Elementary. That number is expected to grow to 1,100 students across 43 classrooms, Superintendent Eduardo Reyes said Thursday evening at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
While other local districts struggle with declining enrollment, Reyes said his district saw a need for a school near Otay Ranch to serve families in new housing developments in east Chula Vista.
“You’ll see some apartments that haven’t yet even opened up, but that is how quickly our school is projected to grow in the next five years,” said Principal Martha-Irene Garza, a Chula Vista native who previously was principal at Hazel Cook Elementary.
Garza said the school was designed with three key qualities in mind: collaboration, flexibility and comfort. Classrooms were built to include moveable furniture, various seating options and nature-inspired “biophilic” designs. The goal, she said, is to accommodate students’ varying educational needs.
Fifth-grader Aria Janus, who delivered the event’s opening remarks, said she looks forward to using the school’s newest technology, discovering her own interests and building community.
“I’m excited because I get to see my old friends and also make new friends,” she said.
The district’s board chose to name the school for Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court, after crowdsourcing ideas from the community, Garza said. She hopes Sotomayor’s fortitude and perseverance is instilled in Snowy Owl students.
“(Sotomayor) encountered hardships and challenges in her life, and she highlights fear as the biggest obstacle in life, and giving up because of it,” Garza said. “So I want every single one of my Sotomayor Snowy Owls to embrace that risk-taker that Sonia Sotomayor was.”
Reyes said the school’s opening was a testament to two and a half years of hard work by the community.
“It’s a combination of being so honored — so proud — but also just full of love for what I do,” he said. “When you see the smiling faces on the children, you see the families that are waiting for the doors to be open, knowing what their children will be receiving at this school — that’s why we do what we do.”
The school will officially open to students when the district’s school year begins July 24.
