Visalia Unified celebrate opening of new middle school

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hundreds of students in Visalia will open up the new Ridgeview Middle School in Visalia this year. Visalia Unified unveiled it Wednesday, just in time for the first day of school on Thursday.

The school district celebrated with a ribbon cutting of the 66,000 square foot campus. Part of the excitement was that this is the first middle school in town, in a couple of decades. The school is located in northwest Visalia, right off of Riggin and Akers.

Some unique things about this place is the landscape is drought resistant to save on water and the inside is high tech. This is what some are calling a digital learning center-- the focus is math and science. Each classroom is set up with multiple TV screens and each student will have access to Chromebooks.

There is a tech-lab with a 3D printer and the kids will be able to learn about robotics. We talked with the school's very first principal and obviously, he's very excited.

"I think it inspires kids to take learning very seriously and to look to their future. We're very excited to have this opportunity in Visalia, to start a new school and to really bring kids together," said Michal Yates, principal.

The first class of students will be made up of about 360 students, but the school has room for 900.

Over the course of 15 years, expansions could be made to educate more than a thousand at a time.