Within the next few years, hundreds of Lompoc students will reap the benefits of a new gymnasium, library, and kitchen at Manzanita Public Charter School. The first of three phases began in June as contractors prepared the site. Construction is expected to take three years.
Lompoc Unified School District owns and operates the charter school’s facilities, which are located on Mountain View Boulevard on the opposite side of the Cabrillo Highway as Vandenberg Space Force Base. Renovations of this magnitude are new to the district.
“It’s basically a fully modernized upgraded site for the students of the area,” said Jon Bruenning, the district’s bond project manager. “It modernizes the learning environments, improves safety systems, better climate control, updates the technology infrastructure, [and] creates more functional spaces for instruction and student support.”
Because the campus is located at Vandenberg, the project qualified for a grant from the Department of War that supplied three-quarters of the funds. The $45.4 million came from a program that contributes to renovating campuses serving military families.
An additional $14.6 million was pulled from the charter school, Lompoc Unified School District, and a California Charter School facilities grant, according to Vandenberg.
“It’s definitely, I think, an exciting project, and we’re all eager to get it moving,” Bruenning said.
When all three phases of the project are complete, Manzanita students will have access to a new multi-purpose room, playgrounds, classrooms, and a music center.
“Those are resources that are sorely needed for modern schools and education,” Bruenning explained. “Just general overall improvements of student wellness and education access.”
The bulk of construction is planned for the summertime, but there’ll be periods when students are on campus with builders. Bruenning said the district’s priorities are maintaining student safety and minimizing disruptions.
Last academic year, around 528 elementary and middle schoolers were enrolled at Manzanita. Between 25 to 35 percent live with their families on the base. In April, the Department of War announced that the grant is meant to address the school’s conditions after it was listed as No. 40 on the 2019 list of priority schools on military sites.
“It’s a substantial amount of money. It’s a substantial project,” Bruenning said. “To my knowledge, it’s fairly uncommon for a project of this size to happen in school districts in this area generally.”
He added that Lompoc Unified has another potential modernization project in the works at Crestview Elementary School, also on Vandenberg property.
This article appears in July 2 – July 9, 2026.
