ALISO VIEJO : Groundbreaking for School Feb. 11

The Capistrano Unified School District will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 11 for a much-needed high school in the planned community of Aliso Viejo.

The new school, which will be called Aliso Niguel High School, will be located near the intersection of Laguna Hills Drive and Aliso Creek Road. It will enroll about 2,200 students.

This will be the district’s fourth high school and the first built since Capistrano Valley High School in 1977.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be attended by Supt. James A. Fleming; Krystal Kochendorfer, president of the district’s Board of Trustees, and various civic and community leaders, said Jacqueline Price, district spokeswoman.

In the main, the new school will serve the communities of Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo, Price said.

“Although final boundaries will not be set until next year, the school will have a positive rippling effect because it will reduce the number of students at all of the high schools. The new school will also allow for future growth,” she said.

Dana Hills High School, which has had to place several portable classrooms on its campus to house its 2,700 students, will benefit most when the new high school is opened in September, 1993, Price said.

Aliso Viejo High School will have 199,857 square feet of buildings encompassing 80 classrooms, a gymnasium, food services, a library, performing arts facilities and 10,833 square feet of administration space.

The school also will have athletic fields and office space, but construction of a football stadium and a swimming pool are not yet included in plans for the school. They will be added later when funds become available, district officials said.

The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at the school site, 27652 Laguna Hills Drive, Aliso Viejo.