ACMS upgrades track and field for the first time since 1998
American Canyon Middle School’s football field sparkled more than usual on Wednesday as students played flag tag and strolled the vibrant green turf in groups. For the first time in a long time, lanes were bright on the brick red track that wraps around the field.
Thanks to Measure A2, passed by Napa County voters in 2022, schools in American Canyon received a $25 million bond to get much-needed upgrades to facilities. On Wednesday morning, the restoration of American Canyon Middle School’s track and football field was officially celebrated in a small ceremony that included students, coaches, teachers, parents and Napa Valley Unified School District representatives — and the Wildcat mascot himself.
In late October, staff and students arrived at school to an exciting sight: a shiny, new athletic field open to play sports and exercise after almost five months of closure. American Canyon Middle’s track and field hadn’t been remodeled since the school’s founding in 1998.
“Across the district, schools have received fresh paint, new roofs, upgraded HVAC systems and many other necessary improvements,” Napa Valley Unified School District Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti told the small group seated along the new track. “At NVUSD, we believe that the learning environment matters for our students.
“Just look around: our students are connecting, they’re exercising, they’re building leadership skills. And they’re doing it all safely and with pride in their school.”
At the ceremony’s close, the group stood to watch kids on the cross country team sprint and rip through a “GO WILDCATS!” banner stretched across the track.
“I was like, hmm they might need to speed up a little bit!” joked Coach Jason Holland after watching the kids break through the banner. Holland came on in 2022 to coach cross country and track, when the school reopened its athletic program after Covid-19 closures. He also is a campus supervisor and a structural assistant.
“The track was a little run down,” he told the Current. “A lot of wear and tear. A lot was breaking apart — pieces missing, dips in the track. Kids know what lines they need to stand at now. It gets more people excited to be out here.”
The teams are doing well this year, Holland said, and a new track will help for the coming season which starts up in February 2026. Cross country just finished up, Holland said. “It was our best year ever. The girls won the league championship.”
Holland considers track a great opportunity for students to get involved in sports at any level. It’s an “opportunity to try and fail, and try again, and get better and better over time.
“With some sports, if you’re not in the starting five or the next two best you don’t really get an opportunity to show your skill. With running sports, the kids have an opportunity. It doesn’t matter what level they are.”
Among the schools with upgrades underway is Donaldson Way, which Mucetti said is getting a new multipurpose room and remodeled library. Since funds from Measure A2 were released, Canyon Oaks and American Canyon Middle have both received HVAC upgrades, American Canyon High got a paint job, a new track and STEM classroom furniture, and most schools got new public address systems for announcements.
A bulk of the work getting voters on board with Measure A2 was done by parents, including Kasama Lee, who chaired the campaign in 2022. Without community support, there’s a chance local schools would have had to tough it out with aging facilities until the next bond vote.
Mucetti called the work of Measure A2 a step toward modernization, to create a “safe, welcoming” environment. She said that up-to-date schools are “about students knowing that we care deeply about them and their futures, and that we’ll be cheering them on.”
