Casa Blanca Elementary School celebrated next week’s opening Tuesday as Riverside Unified School District’s first purpose-built STEM campus, welcoming students to a facility designed from the ground up for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics education.
The school's opening marks the return of the Casa Blanca name to the neighborhood after a 60-year absence, restoring a community anchor lost during the district's 1965 desegregation efforts.
"This is our RUSD's first purpose-built STEM school," Superintendent Dr. Sonia Llamas said during her inaugural ribbon-cutting ceremony. "We didn't retrofit old dreams to fit old buildings. We built something here from the ground up with our students, teachers at the center of every design."
The ceremony marked Llamas' first major community event since becoming superintendent. "This is my first community event as your new superintendent, and I can't imagine a better way to begin," Llamas told the crowd of families, educators and community leaders gathered on the Lincoln Avenue campus.
The transitional kindergarten through sixth grade school features three STEAM labs equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, robotics and sewing machines. The campus also includes learning terraces and innovative classroom furniture designed to encourage collaboration.
The new campus represents a significant investment in STEAM education for the historically underserved neighborhood, as previously reported by the Raincross Gazette when construction was nearing completion earlier this year.
Board President Brent Lee provided historical context during the ceremony, explaining how two women founded the original Casa Blanca school over 100 years ago. "These women, known as las abuelitas, gathered signatures of local families and petitioned the school board to build a school to serve in this community," Lee said.
The original Casa Blanca school closed in 1965 when Riverside became the first U.S. city to voluntarily desegregate its elementary schools, requiring students to be bused to schools across town.
"When that school closed back in 1964, the community didn't just lose a building. It lost a gathering place," Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said during the ceremony, becoming emotional as Arlington High School's ballet folklórico dancers performed.
The community selected the phoenix as the school mascot, symbolizing renewal after decades without a neighborhood school. "The phoenix is a powerful symbol of regeneration rising stronger from the ashes of the past," Lee said.
The reverence for the Casa Blanca name reflects both respect for the community's educational heritage and determination to prepare a new generation for future success. The modern campus honors the legacy of Isabel and Margarita while equipping students with 21st-century skills in technology and engineering.
The project involved extensive community partnerships that demonstrate citywide investment in student success across all neighborhoods. Collins Aerospace donated equipment for the STEM labs, while Cal Baptist University's engineering department partnered to bridge elementary instruction with college-level opportunities. Altura Credit Union funded a mural celebrating neighborhood stories and identities.
Additional partners included Phenix Technology Inc., construction manager Tilden-Coil Constructors, and GO Architects, who Llamas credited with "listening to the community and building the vision that they had in their minds."
"This reflects the best of what can happen when a community comes together," Llamas said, acknowledging the partnerships that made the school possible.
Principal Bernie Torres will lead the school. Torres described the extensive planning that went into the campus design during the ceremony.
"This is evidence that everyone involved was intentional and committed in providing our elementary students the very best," Torres said, highlighting features like the 6,000-book library "for students who want people to see themselves in the literature" and specialized furniture designed for student social and emotional well-being.
The ceremony concluded with a countdown and ribbon cutting, officially opening what Llamas called "a space designed for discovery" where young learners will "code their first program, engineer their first solution" and "see themselves as the leaders, scientists and innovators of tomorrow."
