June 17, 2002, Stevenson Ranch, CA - Newhall School District officials, employees, students and community supporters gathered under a large canopy tent on Monday, June 17 for the commemorative groundbreaking of Pico Canyon Elementary School. The event began at 10a.m. on the site of the future elementary school with Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich giving the opening address. Additional speeches were given by Dr. Marc Winger, District Superintendent; Ron Winkler, Newhall School board member; Robert Santos, President of Lennar Communites; and John Castagna, President of the Newhall School District Governing Board. "This school is key to providing adequate classrooms to our growing district," said John Castagna. "This, along with our other construction projects, will allow us to return to a single track calendar." The speeches were followed by a ceremonial breaking of the ground, where triplets Katherine, Megan and Robert Charles - students at Old Orchard Elementary School - assisted the Superintendent, board members, construction administrators and city officials with the ceremony. The 55,416 square ft. school will include one core building and 28 modular classroom buildings. Outdoors, the school will have hard court and field areas. The campus' 20,700 sq. ft. core building will contain a multi-purpose room, special-purpose classroom, library and administrative facilities. The modular buildings will contain two-story classrooms, equipped to support technology and Internet connectivity. Energy management systems, such as motion sensor lights and energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning systems have been incorporated into the school design, resulting in cost-efficient energy use. Pico Canyon is slated to be a K-6 campus. The school will accommodate 850 students, and is scheduled to open for the 2003/2004 school year.