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The site of the new campus for Mickey Leland Young Men’s College Preparatory Academy is teeming with activity these days as construction crews are hard at work and making great progress on the school’s new $42.4 million building.

The new 139,000 square-foot-building, located at 1701 Gregg St. on the site of the former Wheatley/E.O. Smith building in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward, is being built as part of HISD’s current bond program and will accommodate 900 to 1,000 students.

“It’s great to see the project moving along,” said Dameion Crook, principal of the all-boys school. “It will be the crown jewel of the Fifth Ward and really help to revitalize the community.”

The school became an all-male college preparatory academy in 2011 and was renamed after the late congressman and Fifth Ward native Mickey Leland in 2014.

The new building will include separate learning neighborhoods for middle and high school students and feature new athletics facilities and areas for robotics and JROTC.

More information on the Leland Prep Academy project

Students who attend Leland College Prep experience a small and inclusive environment, enriched with a rigorous college preparatory curriculum that emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and math.

During construction, the school is being housed at the former Crawford Elementary School building on Jensen Drive. The new school is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2017.