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School Construction Projects

Provo Peaks Elementary School

Provo School District’s latest construction project is Provo Peaks Elementary School. This school will be located on the same lot as Farrer Elementary is now. Students will attend Farrer Elementary while Provo Peaks Elementary is under construction. After applying for a very low-interest bond from the federal stimulus package in 2009, Provo School District was awarded $6.5 million to go toward the building of a new school. Accepting and using this bond will not raise taxes.

The Provo School District Board of Education chose to replace Farrer Elementary because it used to be a middle school and was not accommodating for elementary instruction and less appropriate for younger students. The lockers, drinking fountain heights, smaller classroom space, and overall design is not constructive for elementary learning.

The Board of Education is committed to keeping a school in the central part of the city. Having a new school in that area will enhance the look of the neighborhood and the image of Provo City as a whole.

This new school will not only house grades K - 6, but also Provo School District’s Preschool, which teaches about 120 qualified children ages three to five, and a learning center for students who are severely disabled or medically fragile. The school is estimated to hold 650 students total.

Farrer Elementary School and Provo School District administration wanted the students to play an active part in creating the new school’s character and atmosphere, including a name change, if that was what the student body indicated they wanted. The students were very excited with the chance to make such an important decision. Dozens of names were submitted from the students and the schools voted ultimately on Provo Peaks as the name in which they thought would suit the school and represent them best. Mountainside Elementary and Farrer Elementary were the other two finalists.

Construction began in February 2010, and the new school will be finished in the summer of 2011.