The ribbon-cutting of Navarrete Elementary School’s $1.3 million media arts center remodel represented another step in a direction the Chandler Unified School District has been pursuing for several years.

The “reimagining” of some of the district’s older elementary schools includes a few complete rebuilds, but mainly, it’s the conversion of traditional elementary libraries into “media arts centers.”

Navarrete, the southeast Chandler school opened in 2004, like about six other CUSD elementaries, had its original library converted into a media arts center, capped by an Oct. 16 ribbon-cutting event.

Each of the district’s six new media arts centers are slightly different, with Navarrete’s including a main room with high ceilings and modern hanging lighting, with books on bookcases located

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