FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. COC-07-019
August 22, 2007
Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Planned for Canyon Country Campus The public is invited to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new College of the Canyons Canyon Country campus at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28. The new campus is located at 17200 Sierra Hwy., just past Linda Vista and the old "Honey House." Signs will direct visitors where to park. Speaking at the event will be Michele Jenkins, president of the college's Board of Trustees; Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook, superintendent-president; Dr. Dena Maloney, founding dean of the Canyon Country Campus, and others. Located on a 70-acre site along Sierra Highway, the Canyon Country Campus opens for classes on Monday, Aug. 27. The campus boasts 24,000 square feet of instructional space across 23 classrooms and five laboratories and provides students with access to a wide range of transfer preparation and career/technical education classes with more than 300 class offerings in its first semester of operation. The campus is also home to the William S. Hart Union High School District's Early College High School (ECHS). Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the ECHS is a small school designed to enable students to achieve up to two years of college credit while earning a high school degree. Eighty-five 9th-grade students form the founding class of the ECHS, which opened Aug. 20. The first permanent building on campus could start construction as early as 2009. The state has approved an $11 million allocation in capital outlay funds for a 40,000-square-foot building. The land for the site was purchased with funds generated by Measure C, an $82.1 million general obligation bond passed by Santa Clarita voters in 2001. Construction of the first permanent buildings are included in the list of projects for Measure M, the $160 million general obligation bond passed by voters in 2006. When the campus is fully built out in 2015, it will accommodate up to 10,000 students in seven multi-story buildings constructed to take advantage of the natural terrain of the area. The site will feature ample parking, with 1,500 spots. | 
