YUHSD staff settle into new offices
Some employees with Yuma Union High School District not only got a new start that comes with each school year, but they got a fresh beginning in a brand new building.
Back in June of 2017, YUHSD’s new district office broke ground after being approved by voters as part of a 2015 bond initiative. On Aug. 13, less than 15 months after construction began, YUHSD staff moved into the space located at 3150 S. Avenue A, Suite A.
“I just feel so blessed to be in a community that supports public education and gives the students and staff such beautiful facilities no matter where they are,” said YUHSD Superintendent Gina Thompson following a media tour of the new YUHSD office.
According to Jay Munoz, Facilities Director for YUHSD No. 70, the project was completed by CORE Construction with a design by BWS Design Group. Arcadis served as the Construction ManagementAt-Risk (CMAR) to help facilitate collaboration.
In total, he said the cost of the project was $6,730,783.
“Everything came in under budget so we are always happy to hear that,” Munoz said. “Prior to the start of construction we had eight modular buildings on this site which was used as the district office along with a building that was built in the early seventies I believe. This is a major improvement over what we used to have before. For one, the views that you have over the north sideyou can’t beat them.
“Plus, everything is new which is always nice,” he added.
The new facility encompasses 31,858 total square feet, has a maximum capacity of 350 occupants and is three stories high. The building sits next to the new building for Vista Alternative High School, which was ready for use prior to the new YUHSD offices.
“We have some nice conference rooms set up for each department,” Munoz said. “There are a lot of meetings that go on. We like to thank the voters for approving this beautiful building for us to live in basically.” Thompson noted that the building not only provides a spacious work environment, but it brings many employees together who worked in separate buildings before the construction of the new building.
YUHSD officials say that previously, the technology department was located adjacent to Yuma Elementary School District One, Career & Technical Education and Special Services were located at Vista South, and other district administrative services were housed in temporary buildings on the corner of Avenue A and 32nd Street.
“As far back as I can remember this is the first and only time that all of our district services have been housed in one big house,” Thompson said. “We still don’t have our Procurement Department, but that’s a shared department. I think everything else is under one roof.”
Additionally, administrators, federal programs, student nutrition, payroll, human resources and others who utilized the top floors of the original Yuma High School building, which opened in 1914, are now working out of the new
facility.
“It’s important to build a culture for an organization where everybody recognizes the work that people do,” Thompson said. “Sometimes when you are disconnected you forget that there are people attached to the work. Having those human connections, especially in education where it is all about working with people, is really critical.”
Thomspon noted that for years, however, YUHSD worked around the challenges that came from being in separate buildings.
“We learned to make things work,” she said. “Even though we were in different places we really worked hard at keeping connected and being very intentional about planning meetings and things
like that. But, there is just something about moving into a new house because you get to realign, re-purpose, reestablish your vision and your mission. You get to do that in a very different manner when you have everybody under one roof.”
Along with working in the same facility, there are areas of the building where YUHSD staff also get a clear view of Kofa High School, Ray Smucker Park, Yuma Regional Medical Center and more.
“I think it goes without saying it’s an absolutely gorgeous building,” Thompson said. “We get to see a lot of important things about Yuma just from our own windows. We get to see Kofa and we share a corner with Vista. It keeps our purpose right at the front of our minds every single day.”