BOULDER -- On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, a six-year journey for New Vista High School came to a head with a red carpet welcome for the students, who celebrated the opening of their brand-new school building. New Vista was founded in 1993, moving to its current location in 2003. In 2019, a facility assessment determined that the original building, established as Baseline Junior High School in 1952 before New Vista moved in, had approached the end of its useful life. In 2020, the New Vista Working Group recommended replacing the building, deeming it too costly to repair and renovate an old building rather than build a new one.

In January 2021, the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Board of Education endorsed the recommendation to replace the building. In November 2022, local ballots included the $350 million Building For Student Success capital program, which would allow for the replacement of the New Vista building and other implements to schools across BVSD. On Thursday, August 24, 2023, the community celebrated the groundbreaking of the new building, and now, students and staff are being welcomed into that new building.

Students, staff, and media covering the red carpet entered the building welcomed by marimba music, played by Randy McIntosh, Amy Stewart McIntosh, and Blessing “Coach Bled” Chimanga of the Moon and Stars Foundation/Kutandara. At the red carpet event, students met their advisors and teachers, and before dismissing the students to start their first school day there, Principal John McCluskey gave remarks about the new building’s opening.

The journey is not quite over yet, with more construction (including landscaping, site work, and the demolition of the original building) planned to continue into the fall of 2025. However, once the construction is complete, New Vista will host a formal and public ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the journey’s official completion. However, the start of this new chapter of New Vista High School has only just begun.