Orcutt Academy celebrates grand opening of long-awaited gymnasium
ORCUTT, Calif. – Orcutt Academy High School celebrated the grand opening of its long-awaited multi-use/gymnasium building on Monday.
To mark the completion of construction of the new on-campus facility, the school held an official grand opening event inside the building on Monday evening.
Orcutt Union School District officials, Orcutt Academy students, staff and faculty, as well as parents, families and other community members were all on hand to help celebrate a building many years in the making.
"The school's been here since 2009," said Orcutt Academy Principal Rhett Carter. "I've been here since 2013 and it's been talked about since I first got here. It's going to be a game changer for the school. It's it just provides us an opportunity to play on our own campus. not just sporting events, but plays performances. Over 85% of our students participate in activities here, and so this will be a chance for them to participate here on campus and in a beautiful new facility that we have. It's going to be an amazing addition to what's already a great high school, and I think it's going to make things even greater and provide even more opportunities for students to thrive and reach even higher their goals."
To ring in the new building, Orcutt Academy students took center stage during Monday's grand opening.
The National Anthem was performed by the Orcutt Academy Jazz Band, the school's fight song was sung by the school choir, a brief performance took place on the stage by the Orcutt Academy Theatre Arts Program, and remarks were given by Carter, Orcutt Union School District Superintendent Dr. Holly Edds, OUSD Board President Lisa Morinini, and there was a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
In addition, student-athletes got into the spirit with a ceremonial first basketball shot and volleyball serve.
The cost to build the 14,000 square foot facility and adjacent parking lot was $12.5 million, which was funded primarily by the passage of the Measure G bond in 2016.
"I can't thank our community enough for supporting Measure G," said Edds. "It's really going to pay back dividends. It's an investment in our future, and we appreciate our community so much and how much they support us and how much they give to us. I think it turned out. To see the looks on the faces of the kids that got to come in when we did our run through, they're eyes just lit up and they were just so excited. You could feel the emotion in the room, so they definitely are very excited about this."
