District Celebrates Grand Opening of New McGrath and BECC

March 6, 2023

Students, families, community members, elected officials, business partners and district leaders celebrated the grand opening of the new McGrath Elementary School and Brentwood Early Childhood Center on Feb. 25 during a community open house event that drew more than 600 attendees.

The event kicked off with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by self-guided tours of the brand-new, state-of-the-art elementary school and early childhood center.

"A project of this magnitude does not happen in isolation," said Superintendent Dr. Brian Lane. "It takes a community coming together to support high-quality education for all students, and that is what has happened in Brentwood to make this possible."

Construction on the 60,000-square-foot building was completed in December 2022. It features flexible, collaborative learning spaces that are designed to engage students and support innovative instruction. There are 18 total classrooms, as well as dedicated spaces for art, music, physical education, counseling, intervention and special education services.

The building has separate, secure main entrances for both McGrath and BECC that meet school safety and security best practices. This includes a visitor management system to screen guests in each main office before granting access to the rest of the school. The McGrath gymnasium also serves as an ICC 500 storm shelter, which meets FEMA specifications and provides near-absolute protection in extreme weather events.

This project was made possible by Prop E, a $29 million bond issue to enhance safety, accessibility and student learning at the district’s two elementary schools and early childhood center. The building was designed by HTK Architects, managed by Navigate Building Solutions and built by ICS Construction.