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Predictably, the sight of a giant crane lifting and installing the eight-foot sections of 12 new modular classrooms on Jan. 28 enthralled the students of San Juan Elementary, who had already been somewhat dazzled by the daily activity surrounding the demolition and rebuilding of their campus.
“It’s been really great to see the response from the kids,” principal Ethan Stocks said. “This morning, when the buildings were being set up, they were on their side of the security fence, excitedly watching everything. So, a lot of interest in that crane.”
Aromas-San Juan Unified School District Superintendent Barbara Dill-Varga was also there to watch the construction that morning, and was as enthralled as the students.
“I watched them place three or four of them rather quickly,” she said. “It’s kind of amazing how skillful they are at picking these things up and heaving them around and lowering them onto the site.”
While less exciting than seeing buildings lowered from the sky, perhaps, the construction of the new stick-built administration building on the other side of campus also drew students’ attention as they wound their way to class.
The new classrooms are a welcome sign of things to come, filling an area that had previously housed one of the old classroom wings, torn down after students left in June 2025.
Built by American Modular Systems, the 24 prefab sections making up the classrooms were trucked from the construction site in Manteca on Jan. 26 to a lot adjacent to the school. Once in place on concrete foundations, they are bolted together and finished.
While the buildings are modular, School Site Solutions Project Manager John Dominguez said they are not “plug-and-play.” Extensive post-installation work is required, including connecting plumbing and electrical services, installing low-voltage cabling for security, card locks and access control, and applying exterior stucco finishes.
To even reach this point, Dominguez said, there was extensive site work, including identifying and protecting biological and cultural resources, addressing geological hurdles created by proximity to the San Andreas Fault, and dealing with “legacy infrastructure,” such as unmarked water lines.
“In my professional career,” he said, “this project has been the most compelling and the most challenging because of all of the nuances. But the district is very fortunate with a great team on the project and the support of the superintendent and her staff.”
Dominguez said he worked closely with Stocks to develop a “very strong logistics plan” before starting the project to understand how the construction would affect students.
“It becomes very complicated,” he said, “when part of the work is being done right around the students. We planned out how to access the different phases of the project, and Mr. Stocks has been very, very accommodating to the team to keep it moving forward.”
The new L-shaped cluster of buildings, along with the new office building, will be ready for use this fall, according to Dominguez, after the final wiring of security and fire alarm systems.
During the 2026 summer break, the other wing of old classrooms, along with the old office building, the kindergarten buildings and the multipurpose room, will be demolished.
The 2026-27 school year will see the final phase of construction which, according to Stocks, will see a host of new buildings, including a library, a multi-purpose room and cafeteria, kindergarten buildings and a central quad and outdoor space
“It feels surreal to me,” he said. “I’m halfway through my fourth year, and I know there are a lot of people who were talking about it long before I arrived here. I heard somebody say they were talking about this in 2011.”
The entire campus rebuilding is scheduled for completion in August 2027, according to Stocks.
“We will have clean, new, state-of-the-art classrooms,” he said. “I think the students will feel that our community has invested in them. Teachers are going to have more space and resources at their disposal.”
Stocks said the project also has symbolic value.
“We’ve planned this campus to better serve students,” he said, “I think it’s representative of a new era for this school and a new direction.”
Dill-Varga identified Measure O, passed in 2020, as the primary funding source for the San Juan School project. Additional support, she said, came from Measure D, passed in 2024.
“Through these bonds,” she said, “the community said we want something more for our students. They deserve to have spaces to explore, to learn, to support their dreams and to help them reach their potential. And here it is. It is happening.”
The new classroom modules. Photo by Barbara Dill-Varga. 
Modular classroom unit. Photo by John Dominguez. 
Modules being placed. Photo by John Dominguez. 
The new office building under construction. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
New office building. Photo by John Dominguez. 
The layout of the completed campus. Courtesy of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District.
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