The new Jarrett Middle School, which is currently in progress on the campus of the former Portland Elementary School, 906 W. Portland, will open in the middle of the 2022-2023 school year.
The new 130,000-square-foot school will serve up to 725 students grades 6-8. For the foreseeable future, Springfield Public Schools will keep the current Jarrett building.
“It will be used as a transition site in the event we remodel/rebuild other middle schools as part of future bond projects. This is similar to our use of the old Sherwood school, where Fremont, Williams and Sunshine students attended during construction of their new schools,” said SPS Assistant Director of Communications Theresa Bledsoe.
The new Jarrett building will be designed to support STEAM mastery, with an emphasis on innovative spaces for science, technology, engineering, arts and math. This curriculum focus will drive the new learning opportunities for Jarrett students, said Jarrett principal Dr. Kirk Slater, at the December 2020 groundbreaking. “I’m excited about the potential of being able to serve so many kids in so many unique ways in a STEAM environment.”
In addition to better supporting students’ learning, the new Jarrett Middle School will be more accessible to students and families of all abilities and provide a safe room gymnasium and expand space for outside extracurricular programming.