Officials broke ground on the latest phase of the Jordan High School renovation project Wednesday, a milestone commemorated with a ceremony on campus featuring the Jordan marching band and drill team.
The work will include a 31,500-square-foot school building, which will house 14 classrooms, a simulation lab for students pursuing the medical field, and instruction spaces for special education students. The new building will be located along Atlantic Avenue, adjacent to the current administration building at the front of campus.
The main component of this latest round of construction, or Phase 2B, also includes the construction of a shaded lunch area, as well as a covered outdoor corridor with trees and seating available for students.
“I am so excited about the future of Jordan High School,” Mayor Robert Garcia said during his remarks Wednesday. “The incredible focus, particularly on health care, that is happening here, the commitment to building up and creating scholars for the future, and being a place that centers [on] students, equity and supporting each other.”
This latest construction project at Jordan is also the first of 15 projects in the school district’s agreement with the Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council. The Community Workforce Development Agreement was approved by the school board in 2020, and aims to have 40% of all labor positions within the agreement filled by local residents.
The agreement also provides scholarship opportunities for students pursuing careers in construction, and offers priority access to apprenticeship opportunities for LBUSD students in the year they graduate.
“By aiming to fill 40% of all labor positions with residents over the next five years, the agreement will create thousands of well-paying union jobs for our families, and hopefully our students in the district service area,” LBUSD school board member Megan Kerr said. “Our hope at Long Beach Unified was to create a unique agreement that would not only benefit our community at large, but have a direct benefit for our students as well.”
Superintendent Jill Baker reiterated LBUSD’s commitment as the largest employer in the city to provide career paths for students that would allow them to live and work in Long Beach.
“We want our students to stay in the community and serve in all kinds of industries, including the trades,” Baker said. “We know that that creates a lifeline for them to have a family, own a house, and to be successful in their own community.”
The 15 projects covered by the agreement are expected to total roughly $400 million over five years. The overall renovation project at Jordan was budgeted at $228 million, and is estimated by the school district to be 65% completed.
Funding for the renovation project at Jordan was provided by Measure K, a ballot initiative approved in 2008 by voters to invest $1.2 billion into LBUSD’s schools.
Additional construction on campus will include HVAC upgrades and other renovations to Jordan’s science building, which will begin next year. The final phase of construction will revolve around the school’s athletic facilities, with upgrades to the gymnasium and the construction of an outdoor swimming pool set to begin in 2023.
The final addition to campus will be a new track and field facility set to break ground in 2025.
“We work together to support the facilities and infrastructure in our community,” Councilman Rex Richardson said. “This wouldn’t have been possible—all of these enhancements at Jordan High School—without the participation from the public.“