SAN MARCOS — An ongoing $105 million modernization project at Woodland Park Middle School will require the temporary relocation of incoming sixth graders in the upcoming school year, the San Marcos Unified School District announced to families this month.
Woodland Park Middle School has been identified as the district’s highest-need school site, with a campus built back in 1975 that saw partial upgrades to its administration and library facilities in 2014.
The planned project will reconfigure the school site to a more streamlined layout, renovate buildings, and replace portable structures with permanent buildings. It is the largest project funded by the school bond Measure JJ, passed by voters in 2024, along with other funding sources.
Currently, the Woodland Park campus — originally an elementary school — has no centralized gathering area, and large buildings split students across different areas.
“This reconfiguration of the layout of campus is going to be probably the biggest improvement that is very noticeable for all those students, as well as multiple brand-new buildings and then reconfiguration and modernization of some of the existing buildings as well,” Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Erin Garcia told the district board on Dec. 11.
Work on the project began this fall, with the removal of portable buildings and the construction of a new one-level classroom building. The 2026-27 school year will feature the bulk of the on-campus work, including demolition of additional portables and construction of additional classroom buildings.
The level of work will leave insufficient space for all three grade levels at Woodland Park. The district will bring 16 portable classrooms that can house two grade levels, but adding another 12 portables to accommodate the remaining students would require additional utilities and pose ADA challenges, extending the project timeline by up to 2 years.
After analyzing multiple options to address this issue, district and school officials decided that the least disruptive solution would be for the incoming sixth-grade Bulldogs to start their middle school journey at nearby San Marcos Middle School, approximately three miles away, and then return to Woodland Park in the 2027-28 school year.
“It’s going to be a satellite Woodland Park at San Marcos Middle … the same exact courses that they would have been offered at Woodland Park, they’re going to be able to opt into over at San Marcus Middle. They will remain in classroom cohorts with only Woodland Park students and Woodland Park teachers,” Garcia said.
The addition of approximately 400 students from Woodland Park would bring the total population at San Marcos Middle to around 1,300, which is still below its 1,500-plus capacity, Garcia said.
Woodland Park sixth graders will also have access to the same athletics and after-school activities as they would at the original campus, staff said.
Woodland Park sixth graders will also have access to the same athletics and after-school activities as they would at the original campus, staff said. They will also have access to the new dual language program, which was expanded to Woodland Park last year.
The district also considered keeping incoming Woodland Park students at their elementary schools for another year, but this was infeasible because some of the schools are already at capacity.
The change has raised concerns among parents, including those expecting two Woodland Park students who may now need to drop them off at different locations.
Trustee Lena Lauer Meum said she has four kids who will be on four different campuses next year. While she suspects the change won’t be as difficult for Woodland Park students, she has received questions and concerns from parents, primarily about logistics such as transportation.
“I was super nervous when I talked to my son about this, because I thought he was going to be devastated, and he handled it very well. They’re happy they’re going to be with their friends still. It’s just a location,” Lauer Meum said. “I think most of the questions that I’ve fielded have been about logistics.”
San Marcos Unified has committed to providing free transportation from Woodland Park to San Marcos Middle, and staff will be on site at Woodland Park to supervise students who are dropped off and waiting for transport.
Other specific details are still being finalized, and district leaders said they will continue to seek feedback from parents. The district will hold a planning information meeting for all incoming sixth-grade families at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 at San Marcos Middle School.
“We want to hear from parents. We want to hear what those concerns are so that we can address those as soon as possible,” said Superintendent Andy Johnsen.
Woodland Park Middle School principal Katie Buffum said she and her staff are committed to making the transition as smooth as possible for students and families and ensuring they feel part of the Woodland community, even on another campus.
“Woodland is gonna stay strong together. Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog,” Buffum said.
Another major ongoing project funded by Measure JJ is a $94 million renovation at Knob Hill Elementary — a feeder school for Woodland Park Middle. Work began in the summer and includes renovating existing buildings, replacing portable classrooms with permanent buildings, and reconfiguring the site.
Other Measure JJ projects are campus renovations at Paloma Elementary schools and athletic facility improvements at Mission Hills High School and San Marcos High School.
