With the passage of Chico Unified School District’s $239 million Measure C, the district has directed HMC Architects to move forward with the Inspire campus. This approximately $24 million project on a compact five-acre site will provide a new home campus for Inspire School of Arts & Sciences, an independent public charter school within the district. The conceptual design was developed in 2020 and will now be moving into construction. Inspire, with a current enrollment of 480 grade 9-12 students, is currently on the Chico High School campus and will be moving across town to its own campus.

The design is an innovative and cost-effective integration of modular elements and contemporary materials to create a campus with strong emphasis on collaboration, flexibility, and indoor-outdoor connectivity. The first phase of work will include the core campus and an outdoor amphitheater, with a possible future phase to include a 500-seat performing arts theater and a large multipurpose space.

Inspire offers a variety of CTE and other pathways for students wishing to hone skills in fields such as theatre, dance, engineering, humanities, and digital arts, as well as a range of electives that allow all students to explore their passions and interests.

A general contractor has been engaged and the completion of phase I is scheduled for the fall of 2026.