Latest news with #SamuelM.GantnerElementarySchool
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New school planned for Lodi's growing west side
( — An empty 11.5-acre lot at Vine Street and Westgate Drive in Lodi may soon transform into a new school following years of community demand and growing populations in the Lodi Unified School District. District officials say the new school, which is still in the planning stages, will be named Samuel M. Gantner Elementary School. Gantner, a Lodi native considered a hometown war hero, fought and died during the attack on Pearl Harbor. 'Like many of our parents, we are anxious to get this school built,' said Lodi Unified Superintendent Neil Young. The school, Young said, will be built to accommodate the growing number of students on the city's west side. 'Several of our campuses on the west side continue to grow and the number of students is greater than the capacity of the school,' Young said. 'So that we can balance out our schools and make sure we have enough space for all students in our district, that's why the board has decided to move forward with building that school.' The school is planned to serve K-6 students with the flexibility to expand to 7th and possibly 8th grade if needed. In total, the campus would accommodate up to 850 students. 'Safety will be a number one priority for our families and our students, but we also want to look at the flexibility of the spaces that we have, whether they are outdoor spaces that are covered or indoor classrooms, so students have the room to move around,' Young said. The Samuel M. Gantner campus is one of two schools the district is planning to build. The design and structure of Gantner would serve as an example for a future school in Stockton. 'As we build Gantner, it'll give us a model of what we can build on the west side of Stockton,' Young said. The school board is scheduled to discuss educational specifications during a public meeting on Tuesday to finalize how the project would move forward. Once plans are set, Young says the district would move next into the architectural design phase. If plans stay on track, the district estimates the school could be up and running in the next three years. Young says the new school would mean opportunities for new jobs, and opportunities for staff and students to move around. District officials say they will be working closely with the county and the city to ensure the new school is a fit for the surrounding community. The Board of Education meeting will take place at 7 pm at 1305 E. Vine Street. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lodi Unified to discuss potential new school
May 3—After years of parents and teachers calling for a new campus to be built in Lodi, a new school has been proposed on the western side of town. The Lodi Unified School District Board of Education will get its first glimpse of the proposed Samuel M. Gantner Elementary School at Vine Street and Westgate Drive on Tuesday. The school, named after the first Lodian killed in World War II, will be located on an 11.5-acre site west of GracePoint Church. According to Tuesday's staff report, the campus will focus primarily on kindergarten-sixth grades, with the possibility of accommodating seventh- and eighth-grade students, if necessary. The school's capacity would be 850 students. Preschool through third-grade classes would have about 24 students each, while grades 4-6 would have 30 students in each class. Last year, district officials told the News-Sentinel that the district's student population had dropped around 10% — from 30,000 to less than 27,000 — in recent years. At that time officials said there were two new school sites ready to develop. One was Gantner and the other site was in North Stockton, west of I-5 in the Spanos Park neighborhood. Superintendent Neil Young said the district works with both county and city officials to anticipate new developments within the district. He says the growth numbers are used to develop the district's long-range plans and to project future student population. Behind the name Gantner was a Lodi High graduate and a young father who was stationed on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor when Japanese forces attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. As planes approached, Gantner raced to his battle station, a 5-inch anti-aircraft gun on the deck. He fired at the attacking planes but was wounded and taken to the ship's hospital. Soon after arriving, medics noticed he was no longer in the treatment area. He was later seen back at his battle station with his crew, firing at the enemy. An official citation read, in part: "He maintained an effective fire with his gun, in local control, despite heavy casualties on his gun, bomb hits, exploding ammunition on deck, and serious fires, and was killed at his station." He was 21. His remains were buried at the Punch Bowl military cemetery in Hawaii. The board unanimously approved naming the campus after Gantner in 2012. A destroyer-class escort named in his honor was launched at the Boston Navy Yard on July 23, 1943. The ship was later decommissioned and sold to China. Tuesday's meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the James Areida Education Support Center, 1305 E. Vine St. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the district's YouTube channel.
