IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Orange Vista High School, the third high school in the Val Verde Unified School District, is scheduled to open Wednesday.
An estimated 1,100 freshmen and sophomores are expected to begin classes on the new campus in Perris, which city and Riverside County and school district officials dedicated last week, according to a city release.
In two or three years, when it’s expected to reach capacity, the school at 1400 E. Orange Ave. will accommodate nearly 3,000 students. It will serve residents of north Perris and will lessen crowding at the district’s other high schools.
“This is a beautiful campus,” Mayor Daryl Busch said in the release. “Not only will Orange Vista ease overcrowding, it will allow the students who attend classes here to grow up with the school.”
The campus has been in the works for about 10 years, but its construction was delayed by the recession. It cost a reported $80 million and was paid for with funds generated by Measure L, a bond measure passed four years ago to pay for upgrades and ease overcrowding at local high schools.
Orange Vista will be a STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts and math] campus, with a curriculum designed to get students hired immediately after they graduate, according to the statement.
The school’s nickname will be the Coyotes and its colors will he burnt orange and charcoal gray. Orange Vista’s charter technical education program is based on a similar program at Norco College, according to the release.
