> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Construction on ambitious campus begins - URL: https://www.smdp.com/construction-on-ambitious-campus-begins/ - Published: 2007-06-12T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T01:04:11.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import Construction work begins this month on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s most ambitious project to date — the new Heritage K-12 campus at the site of the former Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. Architects for the project, Gonzalez|Goodale of Pasadena, announced that the K-3 school building will be the first structure on the campus, which is expected to be complete by the fall of 2009. Completing the K-3 building will enable area students to begin classes at the new facility a year before the middle and high school buildings are opened to the public. One of the largest school construction projects in the country, the Heritage K-12 Campus will feature classrooms, a central mechanical equipment plant and a 320-car parking structure with playing fields above it. When complete, approximately 4,400 students will attend the school. Hensel Phelps Construction Co. is serving as general contractor on the project. “The new Campus will alleviate some significant problems faced by families in this area of Los Angeles,” says Harry R. Drake, AIA, principal and Heritage K-12 project manager at Gonzalez|Goodale. “Most of these students are now being bused to distant, overcrowded schools, which was especially challenging for the K-3 age group. Soon, they will be able to attend school in their own neighborhood. No student will live more than nine blocks from the school.” The K-3 School will house 1,150 students and is approximately 60,000 square feet. The building consists of 46 classrooms in a two-story structure that will be located at the southwest corner of the Ambassador Hotel site, with the main entrance and vehicular drop-off area along Eighth Street. While the children will be physically separated throughout much of the day, there are times when older and younger students will interact. “This is the first new K-12 campus that LAUSD will build and we have carefully developed a partnership with the community and the local superintendents’ office to ensure that this campus provides a safe, inclusive environment with great opportunities for mentoring and collaboration,” says Eugene Aguirre, Senior Design Manager at Los Angeles Unified School District. Gonzalez|Goodale designed the K-3 School with special features aimed at offering a safe, quality learning environment for young children, while addressing concerns from area residents. Reagan Wheeler Get ready for the future, Latinos Providing better educational opportunities for Latino and Hispanic students will be the subject of a June conference, “Prepárate: Educating Latinos for the Future of American,” hosted by the College Board. More than 250 educators from across the country will participate in workshops led by educators, community leaders, parents and advocates who will discuss topics such as financial aid, the PROMISE Initiative (Pursuing Regional Opportunities for Mentoring, Innovation, and Success for English Learners), setting high expectations and ways to empower Latino students. “Prepárate: Educating Latinos for the Future of America” will be held June 14 - 15 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, and will include workshops and presentations from several distinguished speakers, including Don Hossler and Raymund A. Paredes, the commissioner of higher education at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. All sessions are open to members of the media. For more information about the conference and for a complete list of sessions, visit www.collegeboard.com/preparate. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 12, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)