Chesterfield to break ground on new $135M high school near Moseley this year

The Western Area High School is expected to break ground this year, and is expected to be the first high school to open in Chesterfield in about 20 years. (Images courtesy of Chesterfield)

Chesterfield officials are gearing up to start construction on the county’s latest high school.

Tree clearing is expected to kick off in March to pave the way for a new 330,000-square-foot high school to be built on a now-wooded property at 17500 Duval Road near Moseley, said Scott Carson, the Chesterfield school division construction director.

Construction is slated to start this summer, and the school is anticipated to open to students in August 2027. Currently dubbed the Western Area High School, the school is planned to have capacity for 2,400 students.

The project is expected to cost $135 million, and would be paid for through bond financing that was approved in the county’s 2022 voter referendum.

The new high school is anticipated to cost $135 million and would accommodate 2,400 students.

The school is anticipated to feature 89 classrooms and labs dedicated to core academic subjects. There would be additional classrooms devoted to art, music and business instruction, as well as career and technical training space.

Other planned features include: a theater for performances; a dedicated space for special education students; two interior courtyards; a cafeteria; an auditorium; and more than 900 parking spaces for students, faculty and visitors.

Athletic facilities will include two gyms, a 3,500-seat stadium field, two baseball diamonds, two softball diamonds and weight room.

A general contractor hasn’t been selected for the project, which is currently out to bid. Submissions are due Jan. 30. Carson said there’s been strong interest so far.

Engineering and architecture firm Stantec was tapped to handle the school’s design, which is expected to be similar to that of Independence High School in Loudoun County.

“We toured that building and just fell in love,” Carson said of Independence High, which Stantec also designed.

The 330,000-square-foot school would include a library, dozens of classrooms, two interior courtyards and a 3,500-seat stadium among other facilities.

Carson said the new high school is expected to be built using precast paneling, a material that has been utilized for the exterior walls of more recent school projects in Chesterfield, such as the nearby, in-progress Deep Creek Middle at 17151 Westerleigh Parkway.

Precast paneling is intended to make construction cheaper and faster, and will be used for exterior walls and some interior walls at the new school.

“We’re building (the new high school) a bit differently than Cosby and Clover Hill, which were built in the aughts. We’re using different construction technology to get this open for students faster and in a more economical way for the county,” Carson said. “It really saves us a lot of time and saves a lot on exterior masonry work.”

The new school would be the first new high school to be built in Chesterfield since Cosby opened in 2006.

The new high school is being built to address population growth in western areas of Chesterfield.

The project comes in response to the county’s increasing population. While there’s growth countywide, the western areas are seeing notable growth that requires a new high school to accommodate more kids in the area, Carson said.

“Our population is growing,” he said. “It’s our obligation and duty to provide quality schools for the county’s residents. We’re experiencing a lot of that growth in the Midlothian, Matoaca areas of the county.”

The new school is expected to draw most of its students from Cosby and some from Manchester and Midlothian high schools, though the county hasn’t finalized redistricting plans.

A site plan of the Western Area High School, which is planned for a site near the future intersection of Duval Road and a planned north-south connection to Westerleigh Parkway.

Chesterfield’s latest high school is set to rise alongside a new elementary and Deep Creek Middle that are underway nearby. The three school sites are situated along what will be a future north-south road to connect a lengthened Westerleigh Parkway to Duval Road.

Construction continues on the new middle school, which is expected open this August. The elementary school project broke ground in the fall.

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