Mercury Mine Elementary School, a Paradise Valley Unified School District campus near Dreamy Draw Park, will mark its 50th anniversary with a community celebration on Friday, Nov. 6.
The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m. and is open to alumni, current and prospective families, staff and neighbors, according to the district's newsroom.
The evening will include the unveiling of a new school mural, performances by the school's strings and choir groups, sixth-grade poetry readings and disco dancing. Guests can browse historical artifacts, photos spanning the school's five decades and student-created grade-level displays. Food trucks will be on site.
Mercury Mine opened in 1976 and serves students in preschool through sixth grade, according to the school's website. The campus sits near the 51 freeway in a neighborhood the school describes as "close-knit." Architects Kemper and Goodwin, known for their Arizona work, designed the building.
The school features a Desert Education Area with an amphitheater, stage, ramada, desert walk and desert plants. It uses the Core Knowledge curriculum and offers programs for gifted and special education students. Mercury Mine students feed into Shea Middle School and Shadow Mountain High School.
PVUSD serves approximately 30,000 students across nearly 100 square miles of northeast Phoenix and north Scottsdale, according to the district's history page. Mercury Mine was among 13 schools the district built during the 1970s.
Governing Board President Tony Pantera wrote in an Oct. 20 column about the role neighborhood schools play across the district's 42 campuses. He described hosting tea parties as a teacher so neighbors could "drop in, have a bit of tea, a scone, and conversation."
The school's colors are blue and gold. Its motto: "Mining the Promise of the Future."
