Groundbreaking Held for CREC Magnet School in South Windsor

Local and state officials broke ground on a new, $31.5 million, 65,000-square-foot Capitol Region Education Council pre-K through 5 elementary magnet school this week in South Windsor.

The International Magnet School for Global Citizenship is being constructed on a 14.5-acre parcel at 625 Chapel Road in South Windsor and is expected to be completed in January 2014, according to Aura Alvarado of CREC.

The lion’s share of the $31.5 million price tag will be funded through a state grant, Alvarado said.

Projected enrollment for the school, according to CREC officials, is 435 students and the project will create some 40 jobs. 

“We are very excited,” Cindy Rigling, principal of the International Magnet School for Global Citizenship, said in a press release. “The process of designing the building has been a collaborative one, involving teachers, parents and students. Upon completion, the building will embody the essential elements of the International Baccalaureate framework.”

The International Magnet School is one of four interdistrict magnet schools that CREC is in the process of building, according to Alvarado. The others, which are slated to open in 2013 through 2015, will be located in Enfield, New Britain and Avon. In addition, CREC recently held a ribbon cutting for another school on the Glastonbury/East Hartford border.

“These schools are investments that will have great payoffs for Connecticut’s economy and residents in the short and long term,” said John Mena, director of construction at CREC, in a press release. “We are proud to be a part of something that will benefit students and their communities now and for years to come.” 

The officials who took part in the ceremony - including state Rep. Bill Aman and South Windsor Mayor Tom Delnicki - in South Windsor Monday morning, for their part, were thrilled that the project is moving forward.

“Innovative schools such as this are critical investments in our future that have tremendous payoffs in both the short and long term for Connecticut’s economy,” state Sen. Gary Lebeau said on his re-election website. “The collaborative design of this state of the art facility will offer distinctive features that will align with the specialized theme of global citizenship, the school’s curriculum.”