For the second time in five months, the Guadalupe Union School District celebrated the opening of a new campus with colorful classrooms created to educate the youngest students and prep them for the future.

On Wednesday, officials gathered for the Guadalupe Early Learning Center ribbon-cutting ceremony, occurring months after the August celebration of the new Guadalupe Junior High School next door on Arroyo Seco Road.

During the junior high school celebration, speakers focused on the past — delays, costs and other hurdles faced over decades of efforts to add a new school. 

“Today, we want to talk more about the future because this school, this center represents the future of Guadalupe,” Superintendent Emilio Handall said. 

“The research is very clear — investment in early childhood education has by far the highest return on investment. It’s empirical. There’s just no refuting it. There’s no gray area. It’s absolutely clear.”

A high-quality early childhood education — focused on more than numbers, letters, colors and shapes — leads to learning to socialize, regulate their emotions and ask for help from adults.

“That gives students the opportunity to go into kindergarten fully ready to thrive,” he added. “It’s our investment in the community, into our students that we know is going to benefit them now and far into the future.”

The Guadalupe district’s mission centers on ensuring students are prepared for high school, Handall said.

“We know it cannot be done if they’re not ready for kindergarten, because they’ll spend a long time trying to catch up to where they’re supposed to be,” Handall said. “But this center will allow us to get the head start that they need.”

Handall said he has long believed in the power of early childhood education, noting that Guadalupe implemented its transitional kindergarten program two years before the state mandate. 

“When we look at the data of students who have had a transitional kinder experience versus those who have not, the results are so clear. Our students who have TK experience far outperform those students that don’t,” Handall said.

Approximately 75 people gathered for the afternoon with those in attendance including County Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido.

“I am so thrilled for the community of Guadalupe,” Salcido said, crediting the district’s superintendent, staff and board “for having the vision to have early care and education — preschool and TK — served right in the heart of Guadalupe. 

“It’s a wonderful moment. I can’t wait to see what is to come. It’s a beautiful facility and needed. They obviously had a vision and fulfilled that vision.”

Funding for Guadalupe’s new early learning campus came from state, federal and private sources.

“This site is by no stretch of the imagination done,” Handall said, adding that some work remains to enhance the facility.

“As you walk in, I don’t know if I’ve been to a site that had a better space for children than we do right here in Guadalupe. Our students deserve it, and I am so proud to be the superintendent that facilitated this great center for the community.”

The $10 million campus sitting on 5.1 acres has eight classrooms and one administrative building, all featuring a spectrum of colors. Five classrooms now house transitional kindergartners, while the remaining three will be filled with pre-schoolers for the start of the 2026-27 school year.

The new campus also has 48,000 square feet of play area with swings, a slide, duck- and turtle-shaped rockers, and more. Among future plans, Handall said, is to carve out an area to create a school garden.

Guadalupe also secured funding to add an early education leader, hiring Mari Ortega-Garcia.

“This center represents a place where the future leaders of the community will come to kick-start a successful academic career for brighter life outcomes,” Handall said. “The community of Guadalupe believes in and invests in their children.”

The Early Learning Center campus will house 150 to 180 students who, in keeping with Guadalupe’s Bobcat mascot theme, will be known as Bobkittens.

Construction of the two new campuses, the first in decades for the small district, began in January 2024, joining the older Mary Buren Elementary and Kermit McKenzie Elementary schools.

The Guadalupe Union School District has about 1,300 students through eighth grade.