Grant Elementary School in Santa Monica has a new library and a brand-new innovation lab, and the kids will use the space to design structures meant to survive earthquakes and other natural disasters. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District cut the ribbon on the facilities on Oct. 14, giving students fresh spaces for reading, research and hands-on projects.
The new library includes a reading room, a reception and circulation area, a librarian's office and a textbook room, offering what the district calls space for independent reading, research and group work. According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, the project also added a separate innovation lab dedicated to science, engineering and design activities, where students will take on projects like designing structures that can withstand natural disasters and using architectural principles to model small towns. The entire buildout was funded through voter-approved district bond measures.
A Library That's More Than Just Books
Superintendent Antonio Shelton said the new library serves a broader purpose than simply housing books, according to the Daily Press, adding that it's designed to support quiet reading, collaboration, creativity and hands-on exploration all in one space. Grant Elementary Principal Christian Fuhrer echoed that sentiment, saying the new spaces build on the school's tradition of students discovering ideas and developing a love of learning, while enabling more exploration, creation and ownership of learning, per the same report.
The ribbon-cutting is the latest milestone in a modernization effort that traces back to voters approving Bond Measure QS in November 2024. Per SMMUSD's Facilities Improvement Projects office, the district began modernization work at Grant soon after the measure passed, with a stated goal of transforming the campus into a future-ready learning environment that supports innovation, accessibility and student success. Measure QS itself is a $495 million bond for Santa Monica schools, according to SMMUSD's bond program materials, which the district says is used to fund classroom modernization, science labs, athletic facilities and performing-arts spaces across the system.
Conflicting Timelines for Construction
Exactly when ground broke on the library work is murky across district records. SMMUSD's facilities page lists a planned start of June 2025 for the library and historic garden modernization, while separate bond program materials state that construction on Grant's early education expansion and library modernization is scheduled to begin in December 2025. The district has not reconciled the discrepancy between those two dates in its public materials.
What is consistent is the opening timeline: SMMUSD's own modernization plan for Grant projected the library media center and maker space would open in August 2026. The renovated library media center is set to include a maker space, alongside courtyard and garden renovations. SMMUSD's superintendent also referenced the opening in an August 2026 welcome-back message, writing that the district was opening an expanded and renovated library along with a new innovation lab designed to support creativity, collaboration and hands-on learning.
Cost, Construction Partners and Campus Scope
The library and historic courtyard renovation carried a construction cost of $10.3 million, according to a Santa Monica Daily Press report on the district's broader facilities push, which noted that Grant was one of five major SMMUSD projects put into use over the summer and fall as part of roughly $480 million in facility work covering Measures M, SMS, MM and QS. The modernization is overseen by SMMUSD's Facilities Improvement Projects division working alongside Erickson Hall Construction and Construction Manager Norman Raymundo, per the district's Grant School Modernization Plan.
Erickson-Hall Construction Co. held a groundbreaking ceremony for the project on Oct. 22 that brought together district officials, according to a company press release. The firm's scope covers renovation of the early elementary building, library and courtyard, including about 5,500 square feet of existing library space plus a 250-square-foot expansion. The early elementary building work spans 4,000 square feet and adds restrooms, workrooms, storage areas and three new Pre-K and TK classrooms, the release states.
Grant Elementary sits at 2368 Pearl St. in Santa Monica, where students now have access to a library built for 21st-century learning and a lab built specifically for science, engineering and design work.
