The former Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in South Phoenix, once home to the Monarchs, sits quiet of school bells these days. But inside its halls, the building has found new purpose as a community hub serving more than 500 families with children ranging from infancy through age five.
The school was one of five shuttered by the Roosevelt Elementary School District at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, according to ABC15 Arizona. Rather than leave the campus empty, the district turned it into a facility that now houses seven different tenants, including daycares, a Montessori school, an after-school program and an early learning center. A WIC office and food pantry are also on the way, the outlet reports.
A University-Backed Resource Center Ties It Together
Overseeing the whole operation is the University of Arizona Roosevelt Early Childhood Family Resource Center, which puts on classes and events for families throughout the week, per the same ABC15 report. The center describes itself as a welcoming, interactive space for children four months to five years old and their parents and caregivers, according to the University of Arizona's extension program. All of its programs are offered at no cost, with programming available in English, Spanish and Arabic, the university notes.
Dani Portillo said the facility focuses on childcare, child development and helping families support their children, according to the station's report. Portillo added that the district is transforming the campuses into community assets rather than letting them sit vacant.
Patty Merk said making the facility a community hub again has been awesome, the outlet reports, adding that the resource center brings people together and helps different systems work together.
Other Closed Campuses Are Finding New Life, Too
Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary is not the only shuttered Roosevelt campus getting a second act. Maxine O. Bush Elementary is reopening as Maxine O. Bush Future Ready Academy, serving preschool through second-grade students with a focus on STEAM education, per the same account.
The district has also wrapped up community input sessions on three other closed sites, CJ Jorgenson Academy, John R. Davis Elementary and VH Lassen Academy, though their future uses are still being decided, according to a separate ABC15 report. Portillo said the district listened to community views about what uses neighborhoods would accept or reject, and suggested future uses at other sites could focus on work-skills development or support for the aging population.
A Budget Shortfall Behind the Closures
The Roosevelt Elementary School District board cited a $5 million budget deficit as the reason for closing the five schools, according to a report from ABC15. The Roosevelt Elementary School Board voted 4-1 to close the schools in December 2024, with plans to eventually reopen two of them, as reported by KJZZ.
The closures in South Phoenix reflect a broader reckoning playing out across the Valley. One ABC15 report states that since 2024, 11 school districts have chosen to close school buildings, affecting a total of 28 schools across the region, while a separate ABC15 report puts the figure at 11 districts closing 25 campuses over the same period. Of those 25 shuttered campuses, 15 have some kind of current or planned use, seven remain under consideration, and three districts plan to ask voters about selling or leasing their properties, according to that same report.
The Roosevelt district has framed its approach to these decisions around more than just filling empty buildings. Per the district's own Reinventing Roosevelt webpage, the decisions it makes will take into account factors such as health, housing, economic opportunity, recreation, mobility and land use. That same page notes the district has held listening sessions on the future of several school sites and nearby parcels, including vacant land parcels as large as 40 acres.
