The Adams 12 Five Star School District, based in Thornton, Colo., has begun construction on a school for preschool through eighth-grade students in the Anthem community of Broomfield.

The district says the 142,000 square-foot, multilevel school is being built on a 13-acre site in Anthem Highlands, a planned community of about 2,600 residential units. The school is eventually expected to accommodate an enrollment of between 900 and 1,000 students.

When construction is completed in 2018, Anthem P-8 expects to become the first school in the Denver area certified under the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Verified Leader program. The goal of CHPS is to promote school design and construction that protects student and staff health, enhances the learning environments, conserves energy, water, and other natural resources, and reduces waste, pollution, and environmental degradation.

Funding for the project comes from a $350 million school construction bond that voters approved in November 2016.

“This is the first [bond] project taking off, but we will be undertaking projects in every corner of our district, expanding elementary schools [and] our STEM Lab Magnet School,” says school board Vice President Laura Mitchell

The architect is Hord Coplan Macht, and the builder is Adolfson & Peterson Construction.