El Paso Independent School District hosted a ribbon cutting for the second most expensive construction project part of the district’s 2016 school bond—Burges High School —on Friday to kick off the school’s homecoming events.
Students, faculty and alumni gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the completed project as part of the school’s homecoming celebrations on Friday.
As part of the school’s homecoming activities, a parade and assembly were held on Tuesday. It followed by the football game on Friday night, and ended with the homecoming dance on Saturday night, district spokesperson Gustavo Reveles said.
El Paso Independent School District hosted a ribbon cutting for the second most expensive construction project part of the district’s 2016 school bond. In this photo, school administrators tour the school on Friday Oct. 1, 2021.
The district first broke ground on the Burges campus at 7800 Edgemere Blvd. in May 2019, intending to finish the project in fall 2021.
Burges High School had the second-highest budget, at $57.8 million, of all construction projects part of the district’s 2016 bond after Coronado High School, which has a budget of $68.2 million and is not yet completed.
El Paso voters approved a $668.8 million bond program in 2016 for EPISD to consolidate certain schools and invest in athletic facilities, security measures, safety, instructional technology, and school buses.
Voters approved the bond to “help modernize facilities and to right size the number of campuses the District operates based on updated enrollment figures,” according to a district news release from earlier this week.
The modernization project at Burges included a new two-story building addition that houses science labs, new classrooms, fine arts facilities, and the most significant black box theater in El Paso.
“The new construction transformed the campus and created modern learning spaces conducive to 21st learning techniques being used in the District,” according to the district release.
El Paso Independent School District hosted a ribbon cutting for the second most expensive construction project part of the district’s 2016 school bond. In this photo Joel Valencia, a facilitator with the school district inspects a locker room.
The project also included a new campus courtyard and renovations to at least two buildings. The school also received bond funds for athletic upgrades like new football turf and a new softball field, which is still under construction.
The bond projects were designed by MNK Group architects, with Banes General Contractors overseeing the work.
EPISD also announced the new principal at Burges on Friday, Jason Yturralde, who was principal at Ross Middle School since 2012 and Ross and Henderson Middle School since 2018.
Yturralde was also previously principal at Coldwell Elementary and assistant principal at the former Alta Vista Elementary. The EPISD board voted to close Alta Vista, Beall, Burleson and Schuster in May 2019 and consolidate them with other schools.
