Educators at Sage Hill School last week celebrated the beginning of construction last week that will allow them to add grades 7 and 8 to their curriculum.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place Dec. 12 at the school’s campus in Newport Beach, on the site of a planned 38,658-square-foot building. In addition to classrooms that will allow Sage Hill to expand into middle school instruction, it will also feature a cafe and a second gym that can seat up to 1,000 spectators.
Head of School Patricia Merz makes comments during the groundbreaking ceremony for new Sage Hill School Middle School and second gymnasium on Dec. 12.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
“The new middle school and second gym is more than just a building,” said the chair of Sage Hill’s board of trustees, Mike Bolen. “It is an investment in the promise of tomorrow. It will be a space where curiosity soars, character is shaped and connections are built, within the classroom and beyond.”
The school began raising funds for the new structure in the summer of 2023, and the project was approved by the Newport Beach Planning Commission the following December. Sage Hill plans to open the facility and welcome its first cohorts of seventh and eighth graders in the fall of 2026.
The private school currently has about 560 students enrolled. Expanding into grades 7 and 8 will increase the size of the student body by about 140 more children.
Members of the board of trustees gather for a picture during the groundbreaking ceremony at Sage Hill on Dec. 12.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)