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Erie Elementary Charter School in Chicago, Illinois, US has broken ground on an addition.

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The facility, opened in 2005 with 80 students, will raise its capacity to over 400 low-income or disadvantaged students in grades K-8 with the construction of the new addition. The addition will cover an area of 16,000 square feet and will offer extra classroom space for art, music and parent education, along with extracurricular activities.

The new structure will house a gym, a computer lab, as well as expanded staff office and administration space. The facility will be built to comply American’s with Disabilities Act specifications. Further, it will incorporate a host of green features conforming to LEED Silver standards.

A sum of $12 million will be contributed by the state for the project via Illinois Jobs Now! capital funds.