# @vadogwoodnews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CwfahN5OAlH
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/8387151-vadogwoodnews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/c66a6732b3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-08-28T14:00:36.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Dogwood (@vadogwoodnews) — https://gondola.cc/vadogwoodnews

## Caption

It’s pretty cool when you can see the excitement on a person’s face—and even better when it’s visible to a whole group. That was the case earlier this month when Chesterfield County Public Schools leaders and local officials broke ground on a brand new middle school. We featured this happy news as our #ThisIsVirginia highlight this week.

At over 254,000 square feet, it will be a sizable building. The three-story space will sit on a 105-acre plot in the Matoaca District near Westerleigh Parkway. Beyond the typical classrooms, labs, and conference and office areas you might expect to find in a school, the inside will also feature a 1,000-seat auditorium, 650-student capacity cafeteria, 1,200-seat gym with adjacent locker rooms, an auxiliary gym, and a media room. There will also be a music suite with spaces for band, chorus, orchestra, and drama. Outdoors, students will have access to an eight-lane running track around a soccer field, two playfields, two softball fields, and tennis and basketball courts.

Before the group shoveled the first scoop, Ryan Harter, the Chesterfield County School Board member representing the Matoaca District, spoke about the project.

“The facility that we’re about to break ground on will support 21st-century learning and 21st-century success for all students, teachers, and staff members,” Harter said in a media release. “As a former teacher, I understand the energy and excitement a new school brings to the community. … Great things are happening in Chesterfield County, and we look forward to the great things that will happen in this brand new school.”

While currently referred to as West Area Middle School, the site will receive a formal name before opening for students in August 2025. The estimated cost of the project is nearly $100 million.

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📸 : Chesterfield County Public Schools
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## Tags

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