Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, (619) 534-7404 or pjacoby@ucsd.edu

Groundbreaking ceremonies for The Preuss School at the University of California, San Diego—the only charter school in the state to be established on a college campus—will be held at 10:30 a.m. March 30.

Speakers will include UCSD Chancellor Robert C. Dynes; Peter Preuss, University of California Regent and representative of the Preuss family; Alan Bersin, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent; Cecil W. Lytle, Thurgood Marshall College provost, and Doris Alvarez, Preuss School principal.

The first shovels of dirt will be turned by a group of San Diego students from the Partners at Learning/Summerbridge program on the UCSD campus.

The Preuss School is designed as a 70,000 square foot complex of new buildings on UCSD’s East Campus, bounded by Genesee Ave., Campus Point Drive and Voigt Drive. Completion is expected in the fall of 2000.

Meanwhile, temporary quarters this fall at UCSD’s Thurgood Marshall College will house the first 100 Preuss School students, consisting of sixth, seventh and eighth graders. The school will reach its maximum 700 students in 2003.

Mission of the innovative public school is to prepare low income and educationally underserved students for admission and graduation from a university. Classroom sizes will range from 20 to 27 students; the school day and academic year will begin earlier and end later than is the custom in San Diego District schools.

To create a campus environment, buildings of the new facility are arranged around a long central courtyard which features an outdoor amphitheater designed for performances, school assemblies and lunchtime gatherings.

A large building for administrative offices, a Library/Media Center and a Multipurpose Facility will be built on one side of the central court. The library will be a technologically advanced learning center, complete with computer connectivity to UCSD, the internet, on-line resources and card catalog, as well as an 18,000 volume book capacity. The Multipurpose Facility provides for music and theatrical performances, art display, community meetings, indoor sports, rainy day lunches and student assemblies.

On the other side of the central court are five two-story classroom wings which contain 28 classrooms, including four science class/labs. The five wings are connected by a trellised arcade, and the outdoor courtyards between the wings are designed to accommodate small academic and social gatherings.

Other outdoor amenities include a softball and soccer playing fields, and a bus stop at the entry groves of trees.

Designed by HMC Group Architects of San Diego, The Preuss School project recently received an Award of Excellence in the unbuilt category from the American Institute of Architects, California Council, and the Coalition for Adequate School Housing.

The Preuss School is named in recognition of a $5 million gift to the facility made by University of California Regent Peter Preuss, his wife Peggy, their son Peter and the Preuss Family Foundation.