Elvira Elementary School welcomed hundreds of students, families, staff and community members to campus for a special ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the renovation of several of the school’s shared spaces.

The celebration gave the Elvira community an opportunity to see the newly renovated cafeteria, teacher lounge and front office while also showcasing the work students have been doing during the school’s open house. For a neighborhood school that has welcomed generations of families through its doors, the evening was about more than new floors and fresh paint, it was about investing in a space that has been part of the community for decades.

Elvira’s cafeteria had remained largely unchanged for more than 40 years. The recently completed renovations bring new life to the space while preserving the character and history that make Elvira special.

Updates include freshly painted walls, new dining tables, epoxy flooring, an upgraded stage with new curtains, new cabinets in the teacher lounge and an updated front office designed to create a welcoming space for Elvira families.

Thanks to the generosity of Southwest Food Services, the project also features a custom Elvira varsity logo incorporated into the new epoxy floor, adding a unique touch of school pride to the renovated cafeteria.

The renovation project was approved by the Sunnyside Unified School District Governing Board last year, following the passage of the District’s Bond and Override in the 2024 election. Those voter-approved funds are being invested directly into schools across the District to improve the spaces where students learn, grow and build memories.

“We are beyond thankful for our community having faith in us and having faith in our students,” said Elvira Principal Kelley Brooks Cavaletto. “When you walk into a space—whether it’s your home or your place of work, and especially your school—you want it to be a space where it’s not just safe and taken care of, but you feel comfortable. You feel happy. When the space looks good, you feel good.”

For Brooks Cavaletto, the renovations were also an opportunity to honor Elvira’s history rather than erase it.

“Elvira was really starting to show our age a little bit, and there are so many legacies held within the spaces that got redone,” she said. “The changes were done as a way to also honor our community.”

Concord General Contracting spent the summer transforming the spaces, completing the work just in time for the start of the 2026-27 school year. Students were able to experience the renovations firsthand during Meet the Teacher Night, held just two days before the first day of school.

Their reactions made it clear how much the changes meant.

Students walked onto campus and were in awe of the transformation, with many commenting on how “pretty” the new spaces looked. Parents got their first look at the renovations during the school’s first Student of the Month celebration and expressed their gratitude for seeing an updated space where their children spend so much of their time.

The investment represents more than a physical transformation. For Brooks Cavaletto, improving school facilities is part of creating an environment where students can feel a sense of pride and belonging while laying the foundation for their future.

“The voters made this decision for our district knowing that our kids deserve it,” Brooks Cavaletto said. “Our kids are moving on from Elvira and our elementary schools, middle schools and to our high schools, and they’re graduating at record rates. We have some of the highest graduation rates in the state. We have some of the highest scholarship rates in the state, with tens of millions of dollars in scholarships.”

“It starts at the elementary school that they attend and it branches from there,” she continued. “When students are here in Sunnyside and they continue to grow in Sunnyside, we really appreciate that our community recognizes that and that the future of our community really relies on the walls that lie within our schools.”

For generations of Elvira families, those walls have been the backdrop for countless first days of school, friendships, performances, celebrations and milestones. Now, those traditions will continue in spaces renewed for the students who call Elvira home today and for the generations still to come.