MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Marana Unified School District is opening two new schools next school year, including a K-8 school in the continuously growing Gladden Farms area.
After serving as principal of Quail Run Elementary and Thornydale Elementary Schools, Zach Singer will be the principal of the new school, Tangerine Farms K-8.
“Being able to be part of something new from the ground up, be able to contribute to this awesome Gladden Farms community is really exciting,” Singer said. “But just having a chance to continue to work with our youth and our community and make sure that we’re producing great citizens is really the aspect that drives me every day.”
Right now, crews of over a hundred are working at the school, which will be able to accommodate up to 800 students.
“Our Gladden Farms K-6 school, which is down the street is busting at the seams. They have about 900 kids currently enrolled there,” Singer said. “So with the potential growth from this area, as well as our Marana Middle School counterpart, which is at about 1,100 kids, there was definitely a need in this area to have another school.”
Singer says the school's construction is currently ahead of schedule.
“We are currently drywalling the building, which for those of you who are in the construction business, I think means good things. They are currently laying curbing for the parking lot, which is another good sign for how far in progressing this school is coming,” he said.
While there will be an outdoor playground, the school itself is fully encompassed by walls. Singer says safety and weather are reasons for that.
“We want to make sure that all students are well taken care of and well nurtured. One of the reasons we picked the javelina as our mascot is because they protect their young and we want our school to encompass that as well,” he said. “On top of that, the weather. We have a lot of sunny days in our school, but that also means kids are having to walk out in really hot heat, really dangerous sunrays that we want to make sure they are being taken care of. Then there are also days when there are monsoons in our part of the country. We don’t want kids outside in downpours and lightning weather.”
This will be the third K-8 school in the MUSD.
“Having less transitions has been a real benefit for students and families,” Singer said.
The new school was approved by votersin 2022 in Proposition 491. The project has a $40 million budget.
“We are coming in under that at the moment and we anticipate having a substantial amount of contingency that we will not have to fill to make sure that we stay under that budget ceiling,” Singer said.
Singer says teaching staff has been hired for two classes per grade level. The district will begin hiring support staff soon. Singer says they are continuing to accept open-enrollment students until classes are full.
Singer says they plan to have an opening night for families to see the school end of July.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
