New high school nears competition

Special touches to be part of Murrieta Mesa, which opens Aug. 12
By CRAIG SHULTZ - Staff Writer | Friday, July 3, 2009 10:35 PM PDT ∞

MURRIETA ---- While giving a tour of the still-under-construction Murrieta Mesa High School, Principal Mary Walters raves about everything she sees.

"This is one of my favorite spots," she says upon entering the cafeteria.

"This is one of my favorite spots," she repeats upon entering the theater.

Then, standing in a second-floor walkway with a view of the Santa Rosa Plateau, Walters said, "I know I said those others are my favorite spots, but this one really is my favorite."

Murrieta Mesa is scheduled to open Aug. 12 with an expected enrollment of 1,120 freshmen and sophomores. There will be a faculty of 47 teachers and administrators and an additional 15 to 20 support workers.

It will be the third comprehensive high school in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

Murrieta Valley High opened in 1990 and swelled to more than 4,300 students by the time Vista Murrieta opened in 2002.

Bill Olien, the assistant superintendent for facilities and operations, said projections for home construction within the school district show that the three high schools will be able to accommodate future growth.

The campus, which is designed to serve up to 2,400 students, was projected to cost $126 million and Olien said he anticipates the project will come in below budget.

Except for the interior of the performing arts center, the 52-acre campus is expected to be complete when students start classes at the new high school in about two months.

Murrieta Mesa, on Monroe Avenue and Los Alamos Road, has a lot of special touches.

The school features a band room with cubbies shaped to hold different-sized instruments, shelves to store the high hats worn by the marching band and a door that allows easy access to an alley to make it easier to transport instruments.

"We thought of programs, then facilities," Walters said.

Most of the design ideas came from an aesthetics committee, made up of administrators, educators and parents.

"We asked a lot of questions of the stake holders who would use the spaces. What works well, what doesn't?" Olien said. "A lot of attention was paid to how things are laid out."

Among the other features are display spaces in each hallway where teachers can show off the work of their students and post announcements.

Some offerings will be unique to Murrieta Mesa, as well, such as a string orchestra and a Chinese language class, Walters said.

The entrance to the campus is set up like a civic center. The administrative offices are at the front, while the classrooms are on the back end of the complex.

Behind the office is an open quad area, which leads to the Rams Den, which is a cafeteria named after the school's mascot that is akin to a college's student union.

Instead of long tables on wheels with skinny benches on each side, the Rams Den will look like a coffee shop, with tables of different sizes for students to gather in small or large groups.

"Instead of a typical cafeteria, we wanted to make it a place where students feel comfortable meeting," Olien said.

The kitchen will be used by students in the school's culinary arts program and the facility also can be used as a banquet room for special events.

In the quad, there are a number of areas for students to gather, all visible from the buildings, which have been pushed to the outer edges of the campus to allow more room in the center, according to Chuck Jones, director of facilities planning.

The three two-story buildings, which house 88 classrooms, were designed to look like a college campus, Olien said. While they are identical in design, there are slight differences in the way they were painted.

The main office will be home to a career and counseling center, Walters said.

The athletic facilities will include a stadium, with green synthetic turf and a big Rams logo at midfield, a swimming pool, a weight room that opens to an outdoor workout area and sand volleyball courts.

The school is energy-efficient. Many rooms feature high windows to allow for the use of natural light. Others have solar tubes, which light up the room without using electricity.

Jones said that even in these tough economic times for school districts, there was no skimping on features such as sports facilities at Murrieta Mesa. Trustees insisted that the new high school have all the same amenities as the district's two other high schools.

"We didn't want to build it unless it was the same," Jones said. "We wouldn't be holding up our end of the bargain if we didn't do that."

Walters said recently that even though there are no students on campus yet, she already had 150 signed up for activities and 85 charter members in the PTSA.

"I have a volunteer almost every day," Walters said.

The school also sold out its supply of T-shirts and sweatshirts, which were made available late last year.

Jones, who oversaw the opening of two other Murrieta schools and two in Moreno Valley as a principal, said a new school is always exciting.

"Whenever you open a school, it's about increasing opportunities for kids," he said. "You need another ASB president; you need another quarterback."

Call staff writer Craig Shultz at 951-676-4315, ext. 2625.