Sauk Rapids-Rice School District Names New Early Education Center

SAUK RAPIDS (WJON News) -- The new early childhood center that will be built in the Sauk Rapids-Rice school district has a name.

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Superintendent Brad Bergstrom says they received 141 submissions from residents. They whittled those submissions down to six before presenting three finalists to the school board. The board chose the name Creekside Early Education Center.

What really resonated with the board was the idea of, first of all, we were at Hillside, and now we're going to be at Creekside, so paying homage to the Hillside facility.  But also just the idea that at the beginning of a body of water, it starts with a creek.

Bergstrom says construction equipment for the new building will start arriving on site next week, with the work beginning in early May. Creekside Early Education Center is scheduled to open in August 2027. It will be built near the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School.

Another major construction project in the district is the outdoor athletic complex, which will also start construction this spring.

Voters in the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District approved referendums for both projects in February of 2025.