SAC Hosts Lego-Themed Groundbreaking Ceremony

San Antonio College (SAC) held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch the construction of two buildings that will enhance and support the education of small children. The SAC Early Childhood Center and the John L. Santikos Micronauts Center are part of Phase I of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), an initiative to modernize and revitalize the SAC campus.

These two new buildings will serve the SAC and surrounding community by providing a brand-new environment enriched with state-of-the-art facilities. In addition, this first phase of construction will provide a new five-story parking garage adding 500 additional parking spaces and will improve the Southern entrance to campus from San Pedro Ave. thus significantly changing one of the most iconic areas of campus. 

In May 2017, Bexar County voters approved a general obligation bond for $450 million for the Alamo Colleges District which includes $83 million specifically for San Antonio College projects. Phase I will cost an estimated $20 million and is scheduled for completion by Spring 2021.

“For nearly a century, SAC has been a pillar of excellence in our community,” said Dr. Robert Vela, San Antonio College’s 12^th president. “These new buildings are a testament to our commitment to enrich the young children in our own backyard.”

For more than 30 years, SAC’s Early Childhood program and center have led the way for early childhood education and quality childcare. SAC was the first community college in the state to have an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Each year, SAC’s Early Childhood Center serves nearly 250 SAC students who are training to become early childhood educators and/or use the center’s childcare services.

With the addition of the Micronauts program, SAC has pushed the boundary of early childhood education ever further. The Micronauts program is one of the nation's first 'cradle-to-college' STEM pathways which serves young STEM learners ranging in age from four to nine years old.

The John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation, a fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation (SAAF), awarded San Antonio College a $500,000 grant last summer for the Micronauts program. SAC was among the six award recipients and joins past recipients in a capital naming rights process created by SAAF to honor the late John L. Santikos.

More information, including renderings of the new buildings, can be found online at alamo.edu/sac/revitalization. Click to view the flyover aminated video.  

—SAC—

Photo caption: SAC Micronaut Joshua Gutierrez, age 8, poses before breaking ground on the new SAC Early Childhood Education Center and the future John L. Santikos Micronauts Center at San Antonio College.