Milpitas Unified SD Awarded Additional $1.5M Funding for Innovation Campus

Milpitas Unified School District secured a $1.5 million grant from the California Department of Public School Construction to help offset construction costs of the MUSD Innovation Campus, as announced by Chief Business Officer Wendy Zhang at the January 9, 2024 Board of Education meeting.

Zhang connected with state representatives prior to the Winter Break and received confirmation of the grant funds on the same day that MUSD’s Innovation team outlined course programming and scheduling for the 2024-25 school year.

“It turned out that they had a grant available and were waiting to give it out, so I immediately scheduled a meeting with them,” said Zhang. “During that meeting, they committed $1.5 million to help offset the construction costs of our Innovation Campus. We will receive the $1.5 million in the next couple of weeks.”

This additional funding comes on the heels of Assemblymember Alex Lee’s District 24 Office allocating $1.5 million to the Innovation Campus, which includes funding from the voter-approved Measure AA general obligations bond as well as a $750,000 investment from global technology leader KLA that has branded the KLA STEAM Lab on the E. Calaveras Campus.

“Assistant Superintendent Zhang has brought us $1.5M closer to achieving our Capital Campaign goal of $18M,” said Superintendent Cheryl Jordan. “Our team inspires exceptional possibilities that are being realized as we continue to build the MUSD Innovation Campus and the learning opportunities it will provide for our middle school through adult learners” 
A first-of-its-kind high school through adult, early childhood education research and workforce development center–located on the site of the former Samuel Ayer High School–the MUSD Innovation Campus will be a hub for future-ready learners of all ages to connect with local businesses and partners within classrooms and labs tailored to provide a real-world education.

The new facilities will support a wide variety of programming, including business entrepreneurship, robotics, virtual reality, Audio/Video production, coding, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer science and virtual design and construction, as well as simulation for legal, financial, manufacturing and health career training. The MUSD Innovation Campus will provide dedicated space for MUSD’s Adult Education School, Calaveras Hills High School and additional facilities for Milpitas High School students.

“Major global industries are requiring new skill sets to be successful. The MUSD Innovation Campus will provide our learners the opportunity to explore competitive future ready careers,” said Board of Education President Minh Ngo. “We have a phenomenal team at MUSD that continues to find opportunities to invest in our Milpitas learners.”

With the completion of Phase 1 for the start of the 2023-24 school year, the MUSD Innovation Campus is set to ignite workforce pathways and early childcare research in our region and beyond in two additional phases. Phase 2 is well under way and slated to be completed in summer 2024, while the Phase 3 opening is estimated for fall 2025. MUSD continues to seek the support of individual financial partners to sponsor this first-of-its-kind bridge between local businesses, institutes of higher education, governance,  and future-ready learners. For more information, please visit: https://www.musd.org/musd-innovation-campus-campaign.html.

Through partnerships with community, colleges and universities, as well as local businesses, the MUSD Innovation Campus will provide training and education that support growing and emerging career fields and practical career simulation. This novel academic institution will prepare Milpitas students of all ages for the local – and global – job market. 

Upon full capacity, the 99,000 sq. ft. campus will consist of six new two-story buildings, as well as one modernized building complete with classrooms, learning labs, career simulation facilities, and STEAM labs.  The campus is designed to provide environments for  a wide variety of programming supported by flex spaces and outdoor learning quads. Each building will include sustainable materials, energy efficient lighting, all-electric mechanical systems, stormwater catchment and water-efficient landscaping.