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SUNNYVALE, CA – With hard hats on and ceremonial shovels in hand, Sunnyvale Middle School students stood alongside district leaders and community partners to break ground on Phase 2 of the campus modernization project, continuing a multi-year investment in a campus that has served Sunnyvale students since 1961.

Phase 2 will add a new two-story sixth-grade classroom building and Student Union to the campus, featuring dedicated learning spaces, a multipurpose space, a library, a kitchen, and enhanced outdoor courtyards designed to create more opportunities for students to learn, gather, and connect.

Designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and constructed by Blach Construction, the project will create a dedicated home for sixth-grade students while adding shared spaces that will serve the broader Sunnyvale Middle School community, with completion anticipated in fall 2027.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Education, I want to express our deepest gratitude to the Sunnyvale community for believing in our schools and investing in our students through Bond Measure C, which is bringing this vision to life,” Board President Peggy Shen Brewster said. “The spirit of collaboration behind this project is the very essence of Sunnyvale Middle School, with students, families, staff and community partners helping shape a campus that reflects who we are and what we value. Today is a celebration of what becomes possible when a community comes together around its students.”

For the past three years, student voice has been a main part of the modernization process through the Sunnyvale Middle School Steering Committee. The group brings together parents, staff, students and community members alongside the District’s Facilities and Operations team and project partners to provide input on key design decisions and project priorities. Members have weighed in on elements ranging from classroom configurations to outdoor learning spaces and the new Student Union, guided by the vision and direction of the Sunnyvale School District Board of Education.

Eighth grader Sanaa Kathane, who has served as a student committee member during the process, took the stage during the groundbreaking ceremony to share her perspective on helping shape the future of the Sunnyvale Middle School campus.

“Being part of this process is an experience I will never forget,” Kathane said. “It feels surreal to have watched Phase 1 come to life, see my peers learning in those new classrooms and now stand here as Phase 2 begins. Thank you to everyone who made this possible and to the Sunnyvale School District for trusting students like me to have a voice in the future of our school.”

The groundbreaking marks the next chapter in a transformation already visible across the campus. Phase 1, completed Aug. 14, 2025, added 35,000 square feet of new learning space, including 23 classrooms, five student breakout spaces, an art classroom, teacher collaboration space and a 23,000-square-foot landscaped courtyard.

Phase 2 is expected to be completed in fall 2027, while plans are already taking shape for Phase 3, which will bring new administration and locker room spaces and modernize the gymnasium and pool areas.

“This is more than a modernization project. It is about building a campus around the students it serves,” Superintendent Gudiel R. Crosthwaite, Ph.D., said. “Having students be part of this process was never optional. It is part of our Sunnyvale Promise to know every student by name, strength and need. Their voices are reflected in what we are building today and will remain at the center of what comes next, creating a campus where generations of students can see their ideas and potential reflected in the future.”

 

SMS_GROUNDBREAKING1: Sunnyvale Middle School students, district leaders and community partners celebrate the Phase 2 groundbreaking on Sept. 15.

SMS_GROUNDBREAKING2: Superintendent Gudiel R. Crosthwaite, Ph.D., addresses guests Sept. 15 as Sunnyvale Middle School celebrates Phase 2 of its campus modernization project.

SMS_GROUNDBREAKING3: Eighth grader Sanaa Kathane speaks Sept. 15 about representing student voice during the Sunnyvale Middle School modernization process.

 

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