MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Some Marana Unified School District students will be heading back to school at a brand-new high school, with a new approach to learning.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday, July 23, to celebrate the opening of MUSD’s fourth high school, Marana Vista Academy, located at 8333 N Silverbell Rd.
The new high school has a focus on personalized learning.
“You’re going to see unique learning spaces, you’re going to see collaborative learning spaces, you’re going to see breakout rooms where small groups of students can break out and use some technology and do some small group planning, you’re going to see some career and technical education programs,” explained MUSD Superintendent Dr. Dan Streeter.
Dr. Streeter says students will be playing an active role in figuring out what their path looks like.
“This is really about cross-circular units, it’s about hands-on learning, it’s about project-based learning, it’s really about reimagining what teaching and learning can look like,” he said.
This is all being done in a former medical facility that was purchased by the district in 2020. The roughly $12 million renovation project was funded by the Arizona Department of Administration School Facilities Division.
“This is 100 percent state funds, we’re not having to use our own capital, we’re not having to use bond dollars for this, which is really a unique aspect to this project," Dr. Steeter said.
He also said this is the first state-funded re-purposing of an existing facility in Arizona.
He said some students will be at the school full-time, while others will only attend for Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
“And then there is a third group of students who kind of fit all of those and will be doing some type of a hybrid of taking classes at our current schools, taking classes here and accessing CTE,” he said.
CTE programs will still be offered at the district’s other high schools, but some programs, like Dental Assisting, will solely be offered at Marana Vista.
“This is allowing us to take some programs that might be more expensive to run to a more centralized location where Mountain View and Marana can come together to access them, that’s where these programs make a little more sense,” Dr. Steeter explained.
When at capacity, this school will have 400 students. Every student’s learning will be unique; for example, some may be focusing on industry certifications and others on taking dual enrollment courses.
Marana Vista Academy is one of two new schools MUSD will be welcoming students to this school year. The second is Tangerine Farms K-8, located at 10300 W. Mike Etter Blvd.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
