Published May 24, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT
Construction of the new Pfc. James D. Price Elementary School is expected to be completed in May 2027.
History was made at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground(YPG) in Yuma, AZ. Dignitaries, including Army staff, parents, students and school officials, were on hand for the groundbreaking of the new, $10 Million Pfc. James D. Price Elementary School building. At the groundbreaking held on May 19, 2026, various dignitaries, school leaders and military personnel gathered to ceremonially begin construction of the new facility amid a round of applause and cheers. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Col. John Nelson, YPG Commander, in a statement released to Military.com. “Even the previous commander was working hard with the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation to bring us to this point."
Col. John Nelson, commander of Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, AZ, delivers remarks at school groundbreaking ceremony (U.S. Army).
According to the federal government, there are more than 160 public and charter schools located on military installations across the United States, plus more than 100 Department of Defense Education Activity schools serving military children internationally. Since the late 1950s, Pfc. James D. Price Elementary School has educated thousands of students of military parents from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school is named in honor of James D. Price, a soldier killed in the line of duty at YPG in 1954. Currently, the school has only about 72 students enrolled, with a student-teacher ratio of roughly 10 to one.
