Construction students from Merlo Station Campus worked on the new Beaverton High School job site, helping set up a new CTE Electrical program at the rebuilt school.

The Beaverton School District highlighted the project, saying the Merlo students worked together "like they would on a professional job site" to help get the electrical program off the ground. The hands-on work gave students real-world trade experience while contributing to the $253 million campus rebuild, the most expensive project funded by the district's $723 million bond that voters approved in May 2022.

Beaverton High, the district's oldest school, reopened Aug. 26 as a nearly 300,000-square-foot facility serving about 1,400 students.

The new building includes career and technical classrooms for electrical technology, digital media and pre-health careers, The Oregonian reported.

Electrical Technology is now a site-based CTE program at Beaverton High, available to enrolled students through the standard course selection process. BSD's CTE programs follow a sequenced pathway of at least three credits, moving from introductory career exploration to advanced technical skills. Students can earn industry-recognized credentials at no cost.

The Construction Technology program is based at Merlo Station Campus, a two-year, half-day district option program. Students travel to Merlo for two class periods of hands-on training in safety, tool use, measurement, layout and building practices. The district provides transportation.

"One of the biggest things I'm excited about is we're starting an electrical program … one of the things I'm excited about for kids is having more hands-on experiences," Principal Andrew Kearl told KGW on Aug. 19, a week before the school opened.

The BHS project came in on time and under its $253 million budget, Kearl told The Oregonian. Some work remains: parking and other final elements are expected to be finished by summer 2027.