By Clarissa Sanchez

CAST Editor

Completion is expected in July for the permanent home for CAST Teach magnet school.

“Everything is going great and positive at CAST Teach, but the one thing that is going, like, the best is the construction,” said CAST Teach Programs Coordinator Gabriela Aguilar.

The addition will accommodate between 400 and 450 students with a total of 18 classrooms. There will be four each of English, math, science, and social studies, as well as principles of education and child development.  Currently, CAST (Center for Applied Science and Technology) enrollment is about 85. 

CAST Teach freshman Naomi Salas said the first day of school in the new facility will be like attending a new school all over again.

“I am most definitely excited to have our own space in the new building, but also scared because we’ve been in the portables for a while, and that is the only thing that we know, and to go into this new area is a big transition.” 

An outdoor playground will be added near the main entrance for use when elementary school students visit so CAST Teach students can apply their teaching and child development knowledge while students learn and play outdoors. 

“I’m most excited to see the CAST student workroom and the outdoor learning areas,” Salas said. 

The timeline for the construction took a lot of work and adjustments before the school year started. Voters approved the bond financing the construction in May 2022. All spaces will be used in the 2023-24 school year, whether by CAST students or the Stevens community generally, said CAST Teach Principal Ericka Olivarez.

CAST Teach classes and administration currently use portables behind the school. Construction on the addition has caused the parking lot to change as well. Anyone entering the front lot from Dugas Road cannot access the front circle drive or get to Ellison Drive.

“It can be a little frustrating, but we all have to look at the big picture,” Principal Ryan Purtell said. “We all know at the end it is going to be a really nice, quality facility for kids and that the construction process will be temporary.”