Katherine Johnson New Campus

A second submittal of the Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) report dated June 6, 2023, was submitted to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for review and comment. The DTSC provided their comments on the PEA Comment Letter dated June 27, 2023. There will be another PEA report submitted to the DTSC responding to their comment letter, and is anticipated to be submitted in July 2023.

The Draft Preliminary Environmental Assessment report for the proposed new Katherine Johnson Middle School Project at 2641 Kent Dr, Sacramento, CA 95821 is now available, as well as an Appendices. There will be a public hearing during the Board of Education meeting on April 25 where the PEA and Appendices will be discussed. Please direct any comments to Nicholas Arps. 

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Katherine Johnson Middle School staff, students and community members eagerly gathered the morning of April 14 to break ground at the future campus location. The active site bustled with construction vehicles as the community gathered to celebrate new beginnings for the middle school community.  

“Our staff and students are excited to be able to call this new campus their own and to establish Katherine Johnson Middle School’s own unique identity and campus culture,” said Principal Damon Smith.

Read more about Katherine Johnson Middle School’s groundbreaking ceremony at www.sanjuan.edu/kjmsgroundbreaking.

Due to additional storms expected over the next week and continued wet conditions in the region,  the Katherine Johnson Middle School new campus groundbreaking ceremony has been rescheduled to Friday, April 14 at 9:30 a.m.

The groundbreaking will celebrate the kick-off of construction and those in attendance will have an opportunity to take a photo with a hard hat and shovel and view the architect's renderings of the future campus.

Please RSVP for the event on April 14 by visiting www.sanjuan.edu/KJgroundbreaking.

A workshop was held for the Environmental Impact Report on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m at the district office board room (3738 Walnut Ave. in Carmichael). Please visit www.sanjuan.edu/boardmeetings for the board workshop agenda.

EIR Formal Scoping MeetingAn Environmental Impact Report (EIR) formal scoping meeting was held on June 30 at 6 p.m. in the multipurpose room at Creekside Adult School (2641 Kent Dr., Sacramento). Community members were provided an opportunity to see another overview of the proposed project, receive an explanation of the anticipated CEQA process and provide input on which environmental issues should be covered in the project’s forthcoming EIR.

Community Workshop

A community workshop was held on June 16 at 6 p.m. in the multipurpose room at Creekside Adult School (2641 Kent Dr., Sacramento). Information was shared about the process the project staff will use to design and build the potential new campus. The workshop also provided community members an opportunity to share feedback on the communication process throughout the project.

Katherine Johnson Middle school is currently co-located on the campus of Encina Preparatory High School at 1400 Bell Street. 

Katherine Johnson Middle School began operations in the 2021-2022 school year for students in grades 6 through 8. Prior to that time, Encina Preparatory High School served grades 6 through 12. 

Katherine Johnson's current attendance boundary reaches from Auburn Blvd. to the north, Ethan Way to the west, the American River to the south and Watt Ave to the east. (The north east corner of the boundary travels along Morse Ave to El Camino and then over to Watt Ave.) Students in this area may also have the option to attend Sierra Oaks K-8 or Thomas Edison Dual Language Institute (K-8) if they live in those schools' attendance areas or open enroll.

As part of the process to provide additional space for middle school students, the boundaries of middle schools will be reviewed and attendance areas may be adjusted. Please check back for additional information about the boundary adjustment process.

The main driver is the input from the community on the separation of middle school grades  from Encina High School, and the projected increase of student populations in the west region is a secondary factor in the relocation decision.

Yes, the San Juan Unified project team rebenched using 2021-22 student enrollment data. 

No,  it would not achieve the goal of creating a separate middle school, or be a sustainable way to meet the forecasted capacity demands. Many other middle school sites in the west region are already nearing capacity. 

Both middle schools in the west region will be built using bond, developer fees and state matching funds. 

Alternative sites were considered for the potential Katherine Johnson Middle School project, but there are very few alternative sites owned by the district that could accommodate the proposed facilities and meet the project objectives. A more detailed description of alternative sites is included in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). 

No, all of our existing sites in the west region are at or near capacity.

There are no specific state regulations governing site size. 

There are 9.5 acres with 7.5 acres of buildable space.

All middle schools in San Juan Unified feature facilities for physical education and recreation. Katherine Johnson's new home will include field space and playing fields. 

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) study documents are being prepared by outside experts. The documents are expected to be available for public review by August 2022. The district’s project team will hold a meeting to discuss the CEQA/Environmental Impact Report process on June 30 at 6 p.m., at the Creekside site.  

Traffic flow around schools is always a concern. It has been a number of years since the Creekside property was utilized as a full school campus which means there would be a change to the flow of traffic to and from the campus. District staff are currently working with construction and traffic experts to assess options that ensure the campus and neighborhood are easily accessible. Please check back for the latest updates.