New Elementary School in MUSD Gets a Name

Harvest Hill STEAM Academy will open in time for the 2016-17 school year. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon

The Governing Board of the Menifee Union School District on Wednesday approved the name Harvest Hill STEAM Academy for its newest elementary school, which will open next school year.

The name was selected from several suggested by members of a school naming committee. It includes the acronym STEAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. It will be the only school in the district offering the STEAM specialized curriculum and will be a magnet school to which any student in the district can apply for attendance.

The new school is being built on Pat Road in Winchester, just west of Winchester Road near the French Valley community. Harvest Hill's boundaries will extend roughly from Old Newport Road on the north to as far south as Keller Road, and from Winchester Road on the east to Menifee Road on the west. The projected enrollment of that school is 364, although housing development is already increasing that number.

The principal of the new school will be Brian Martes, who has previously worked in the Temecula Valley Unified School District.