Spring ISD will host a groundbreaking ceremony June 4 at 8:30 a.m. for Dekaney High School’s Ninth-Grade Center, which will be located on the south side of the school’s main campus at 22351 Imperial Valley Drive, Spring.

The new 130,989-square-foot facility will have a capacity of 900 students and will include a three-story classroom wing as well as a one-story wing featuring athletic and fine arts spaces and a cafeteria, according to a May 30 news release.

The campus will feature administrative spaces throughout the building, and an entrance for cars and buses will be located off Imperial Valley.

“We’re looking forward to the opportunity that ninth-grade centers will give our students,” SISD Superintendent Rodney Watson said in a statement. “Research has shown that separate ninth-grade environments can offset some of the anxieties that new high school students face and improve academic achievements.”

The project is one of three ninth-grade centers being built or renovated across the district as part of SISD’s ongoing $330 million bond program, which voters approved in November 2016. Ninth-grade centers will also be constructed at Spring and Westfield high schools as part of the bond program.

All three ninth-grade centers are slated to open in time for the 2020-21 school year, according to the news release. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the ninth-grade centers at Spring and Westfield high schools had not been announced as of June 3.