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Star is getting a brand-new elementary school built for Middleton kids.
Middleton School District broke ground Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, on Freedom Elementary on an empty site in Star. About 60 people gathered for the ceremony, including House Speaker Mike Moyle, State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield, Middleton Mayor Tim O’Meara, and Star Mayor Trevor Chadwick. The school sits on land donated by Corey Barton Homes inside Star city limits, in a community served by both Middleton and West Ada districts.
The $19.1 million campus is meant to ease years of overcrowding. Middleton’s three elementary schools have been pushed as high as 150% of capacity, and the district has added temporary classrooms for years. Superintendent Marc Gee said the district now has 24 temporary classrooms at the elementary level alone.
Freedom Elementary’s first phase will serve about 400 students, with room to extend a wing later and bring capacity to about 700. District leaders plan to open the school in fall 2028, then re-zone once the building is ready. School Board Chair Pamela Waggoner said the road plan will keep parent pickup and drop-off off Highway 44 and route traffic through the surrounding subdivision.
Funding did not come from a new local bond. About $11.1 million comes from the state’s Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund after local voters rejected five consecutive bond measures. Another $8 million comes from House Bill 521, the 2024 state facilities package. Leaders at the groundbreaking stressed that no local property tax increase is paying for the school.
Students helped pick the name Freedom Elementary and the Eagle mascot. Stay tuned to Treasure Idaho for more coverage of schools and projects shaping Star and the Treasure Valley.
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Photo credit: Kaeden Lincoln / Idaho EdNews (Middleton Freedom Elementary groundbreaking, Sept. 2, 2026)
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