Temecula Valley Charter School celebrates groundbreaking

School officials turn over dirt in a symbolic groundbreaking for Temecula Valley Charter School.

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Officials and supporters of Temecula Valley Charter School celebrated a milestone in the school’s 31-year history Wednesday with the groundbreaking ceremony for a new campus in Winchester.

The campus will be built less than an eighth of a mile from the current location. The new school, to be located at Washington Street and Yates Street, will allow TVCS to increase its enrollment from the current 600 to about 900 students.

TVCS serves eight local cities, including Menifee. As its website states, “All students receive instruction in Spanish, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Computer Technology, and participate in hands-on experiments in the Science Lab on a weekly basis.”

The talent that is developed at TVCS was evident during Wednesday’s ceremony. An elementary school student performed two beautiful violin solos. Two students sang a duet, and a larger group gathered to sing the school song. The work of others was featured in artwork on display. Several youngsters who have been students at TVCS from kindergarten through eighth grade brought over small containers of dirt from the current campus to spread on the site of the new school – sort of a ritual linking of the present with the future.

“We’re here to celebrate the breaking of ground,” said Dr. Charity Plaxton-Hennings, “We realize there’s a lot of hard work still to come to fully realize our dream, but this is a time to celebrate.

“The ultimate purpose of our endeavors today is to create a beautiful space in which students can engage and excel in their education. We are a family school and these students – and in many cases their siblings – have been a part of TVCS since kindergarten and they’re now in eighth grade. We asked them to get some dirt from our current campus and bring it over to add to the dirt pile on our new campus, so we recognize we are blending our past and our present with our future.”

The event was attended by many dignitaries, including representatives from the offices of Senator Kelly Seyarto and County Supervisor Chuck Washington, as well as representatives from the City of Temecula and members of the TVCS School Board.

TVCS originally purchased the property in 2017, but planning was delayed during the COVID pandemic. In the last year and a half, “the project was revitalized,” said Plaxton-Hennings.

“Having our own property is no longer a dream, but an imminent reality,” she said. “Having an upgraded campus will give us a brand new science class. It will also give us an upgraded arts facility.”

TVCS is the oldest charter school in Riverside County, and this project ensures that its tradition of excellence will continue.

For enrollment and other information about Temecula Valley Charter School, visit their website at tvcscougars.com

Students' artwork is on display at the groundbreaking ceremony.

 Superintendent Dr. Charity Plaxton-Hennings addresses the crowd.