Department of War awards $42.7 million grant to Academy District 20 for Douglass Valley K-8 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado

The Department of War’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation has awarded Academy District 20 a $42.7 million grant toward a $54.1 million project to build a new Douglass Valley K8 School at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.

The project is intended to remedy facility capacity and condition issues that placed the school at No. 71 on the 2019 Deputy Secretary of Defense Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List. When completed, it is expected to serve 787 students from prekindergarten through eighth grade.

Funds come through the Public Schools on Military Installations Program, which gives priority to military installations where schools face the most serious capacity and facility deficiencies as identified by the Priority List.

A federal evaluation team with representatives from the Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation reviewed the plan to confirm it addresses the school’s documented needs.

Officials said the investment supports service members, improves education for defense-connected students, helps recruit and retain critical skills at the Air Force Academy, and strengthens ties between the installation and the surrounding community.