Members of the LPS Board of Education “took a few swings” to help demolish the Ames Facility on June 13, 2019 to officially commemorate the beginning of the 2018 Bond Program. “This is a big day for LPS, Littleton and Centennial. This groundbreaking symbolizes the beginning of decades of continuous improvements in the infrastructure of LPS,” said LPS Board of Education President Jack Reutzel. 

“Thank you to our voters, many of whom do not have kids currently in LPS. For them to continue to support us by voting yes on this bond speaks volumes to how they view the strengths of public education,” said Reutzel. “And, thank you to the previous Board of Education members for having the foresight to keep the Ames property after having to make the difficult decision to close the school a decade ago. Because of their vision, we are now building a 21st century school right here for our community - one that will offer all of the things we want our schools to be.”

This summer, the Ames Facility will be prepared for demolition so that a new elementary school can be built on the Ames campus. Construction on the new school will begin in the spring of 2020 with a projected grand opening in the fall of 2021.

Also this summer:

• The replacement of grass fields with durable and safe turf practice fields at middle and high schools begins this summer. Initially, one grass field at Heritage, Arapahoe, and Euclid will be replaced with turf this summer. Additional turf fields will be completed in the summers of 2020 and 2021. Some new fields will also have directional lighting. 
• Design development is underway for the new elementary school on the Ames Facility campus, the new middle school on the Newton Middle School campus, and the new LPS Junior Stadium on the Newton Middle School campus.
• Highland Elementary School is being transformed into the future home of the LPS Early Childhood Center.

Thanks to the community’s passage of a $298M bond election last November, LPS can begin to strategically replace the district’s aging facilities in a way that also addresses transportation and school size challenges. This will also allow LPS to renovate a recently purchased property to create a new Career and Technical Education and Innovation Center for the district, as well as maintain district facilities according to need, including charter schools, by addressing the backlog of projects that are not considered critical health and safety priorities but are still important as the district continues to prolong the life of aging facilities and address accessibility issues until the district can replace them in decades to come. This $298M bond will also be used to replace old, outdated student desks and classroom furniture in every school with new furnishings that will facilitate modern instruction while accommodating students with a variety of needs.