Chawanakee Unified School District plans school on Valley floor

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Southeastern Madera County is home to orchards, vineyards and rolling hills. In just a few years, Chawanakee Unified School District and McCaffrey Homes hope to take advantage of the beautiful scenery by creating a community right in the middle of it.

Bob Nelson with the Chawanakee Unified School District said, "Our intent is to have families bring their kids to school, walking every morning so they're just a part of what's going on in the school and in the community at large."

Nelson says the $16 million K-8 school will be the center of the new Tesoro Viejo community right off Highway 41 near Avenue 15. The school will serve 600 students, many of whom are expected to live in a brand new housing development being built there by McCaffrey homes.

In a statement to Action News, McCaffrey Homes said, "Tesoro Viejo will be a walkable community where residents can live, work and play. The first village is currently under design and will include approximately 850 homes."

District officials hope to have the new elementary school open by the 2016-17 school year, timing it right about when McCaffrey is building homes.

"It's really crucial for us that this school will be the hub of the community," said Nelson. "It's going to be connected to a community center and a community amphitheater so we can have cultural events on campus."

The elementary school will be the first for the district on the Valley floor. Nelson says they've been bussing dozens of kids from the county line up to the foothills for the last several years and there's been a need to have an option for families close to home.

Nelson said, "We think this is an alternative for people if they don't want to deal with the urban hustle and bustle of life to come just a little bit you're only about 9 minutes out of River Park."

The project is expected to break ground in about a year-and-a-half, as soon as Caltrans starts expanding Highway 41.