The Madison Metropolitan School District officially launched the planning process for Phase 2 of its facilities referendum projects, which will invest more than $500 million in improvements across 10 schools and seven sites.
Phase 2 projects include Orchard Ridge Elementary/Akira R. Toki Middle, Cherokee Heights Middle and Ray F. Sennett Middle schools.
Similar to Phase 1, all Phase 2 projects will be entirely new buildings that replace the existing facilities with learning environments designed to both meet current needs and support future growth.
According to preliminary concepts, the new building for Orchard Ridge Elementary/Akira R. Toki Middle School will occupy the northwest corner of the site, with classrooms and a common space that back up to the school forest, which is anticipated to be unimpacted by the construction.
The Cherokee Heights Middle School has a proposed setting on the site’s hillside, with a new common space situated between the primary and ancillary education wings and the gymnasium.
The Ray F. Sennett Middle School building will be located on a vertical axis with its site partner, Robert M. La Follette High School. It features library mall green space between the buildings, designed as an area where students and staff can collaborate.
Phase 1 work — which includes Sherman Middle School/Malcolm Shabazz City High School and Samuel Gompers Elementary School/Black Hawk Middle School — continues to move forward and remains on track to break ground in the late winter or early spring of 2026.
Phase 2 projects will follow no later than early 2027.
