Olentangy Schools is getting out the shovels Thursday at 5 p.m., breaking ground on the district's 18th elementary school in Liberty Township. The roughly 83,000-square-foot building is expected to open for the 2027 school year, another key step in a long-range plan to ease overcrowding as new housing and rising enrollment keep pushing student numbers higher.
According to Olentangy Schools, the groundbreaking ceremony is set for 5 p.m. Thursday at 2745 Bean-Oller Rd in Delaware. The district's calendar lists the event and is expected to be the main hub for updates for families and nearby residents as construction ramps up.
What the Building Will Include and When It Will Open
The new elementary is planned at about 83,000 square feet and will mirror the classroom footprint used at Peachblow Crossing Elementary. Construction is expected to take roughly a year, with the district aiming to open the doors in August 2027.
District consultants told reporters they expect Olentangy will need three additional elementary schools over the next 10 years, along with a seventh middle school, and that the district is preparing to start construction on a fifth high school, as reported by ABC6. In other words, this project is one piece of a much bigger buildout.
Who Is Building It
The school board has tapped Robertson Construction Services to serve as construction manager for the project, a role that lands in the middle of the firm's growing K-12 portfolio in central Ohio (Robertson Construction).
The district’s chief operations officer, Jeff Gordon, credited community backing for making the new facilities possible. "It really makes a difference when we're able to provide these facilities as we grow and keep building new facilities with their support when we have to go out for bond issues," Gordon said, as reported by ABC6.
How the Project Is Funded and What Growth Looks Like
Voters approved a no-new-millage bond in November 2025 that raised $235 million to buy land and build new schools without increasing the district's tax rate. The district's fall 2025 community packet also notes that Olentangy added more than 5,000 students over the past decade and projects further growth over the next ten years. Those details are outlined by Olentangy Schools.
Parents and neighbors can expect construction updates at upcoming board meetings and on the district calendar as the work moves ahead. For now, the groundbreaking is the visible next step in Olentangy's long-range effort to keep class sizes in check and make room for the students still on the way.
