CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Marine Corps staff and Fallbrook School Board members were on-site for the ground breaking of construction of the new San Onofre Elementary School on Camp Pendleton, Dec. 14, 2017.
Students, parents and staff also attended and learned of funding from the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment to build a more modern elementary school for the district. There are two schools in the Fallbrook District that are receiving funding from the OEC to improve their facilities.
“How the schools are chosen is a long process,” said Larry Rannals, Community Plans & Liaison officer for Marine Corps Installation – West, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “The schools get entered into a survey for schools in need of assistance, then once they are chosen they have to cover 20 percent of the funds, then the EOA funds the rest.
San Onofre Elementary landed in the top 20 of the survey. The funding is going to provide better Science, Technology, Economy and Mechanics programs for the students, computer labs with wireless internet and will support the enrollment of up to 900 students.
"This is tremendous for the students” said Sam Jammal, also a community liaison officer with MCI-W. “This school will be just as good as the rest of the schools in the country.”
The school’s construction is projected to last two years, after which, the current school will be replaced with a playground.