The Clover Park School District is making good on its mission to create promising futures for the children it serves at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and in Lakewood.

This past Monday afternoon, school district officials and local community leaders picked up shovels to break ground for the construction of a new school. The Mann and Woodbrook Middle Schools will soon close, and the new middle school will be built on the Mann Middle School campus.

"Construction of this new middle school is one of the important ways we are creating promising futures for our students," said District Superintendent Dr. Douglas Kernutt during the groundbreaking.

"This new facility will replace two aging schools, and it will provide our students with a quality, state-of-the-art learning environment ... that supports their growth and helps prepare them with the necessary skills and tools to graduate career, college and life ready."

Mann Middle School students will continue to attend the school while the new school is under construction.

Initial construction has already begun on the $59.8 million project. Woodbrook and Mann Middle Schools will close after the 2019-2020 school year. The new school will open in the fall of 2020.

Funding for the endeavor comes from the district's cost savings measure on other capital projects, state construction assistance dollars and military impact aid.

The new center of learning will have 48 classrooms, to include three science rooms for each grade. There will also be a main gymnasium, an auxiliary gym, a large commons area with raised stage, a library/media center, a full prep kitchen and spaces for art, music, and career and technical education classes.

"The new school will support all of our students' growth and help prepare them with the necessary skills and tools to graduate to careers, college and to be life ready," concluded Kernutt.