A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Wednesday for the new Marce Herz Middle School in south Reno. 

The new school will help relieve overcrowding at area middle- and elementary schools and accommodate projected growth in south Reno. 

The school is scheduled to open in time for the 2020 school year. 

"Everything from setting up the vision statement for the school, making sure we're involving the parents and the community," Principal of Herz Middle School Brandon Bringhurst says. "Finding a mascot for this school … we have to hire everybody it takes to run a school which is a lot, a lot more than just teachers. We'll start getting those folks on board probably around Christmas time is when we'll make some of those first hires."

Bringhurst is excited for the opportunity to be the first principal at a new school.

"I love working with middle school students," Bringhurst, who has experience at Reed High School and Mendive Middle School, says. "And really a chance to open a new school and set things up from the ground running and have a real foundation there that can last for a long time is a real opportunity I'm looking forward to."

Zoning for Herz could be decided at next week's board of trustees meeting on Tuesday, May 28. It's likely the zoning changes would relieve overcrowding at multiple middle schools.

"Having a little bit more space goes a long way. When you have so many kids and they're so close together just having a little bit of space where they can move around, where they have the resources that they need, it does a lot to kind of lower the anxiety that would be at a school, and it helps students be able to be more focused on what they do in school."

Some of Marce Herz's grandchildren attended today's groundbreaking ceremony. Marce taught in northern Nevada for 10 years, including five years at Mt. Rose Elementary School. She was a world-class athlete who set U.S. and world records in track and field sports, as well as 16 amateur Alpine ski titles.

Some of her grandchildren were in attendance.

"She had a natural love for children and for education," Alicia Herz, Marce's granddaughter says. "And her starting Sky Tavern was a phenomenal feat at that time because it was getting kids outdoors and it was getting kids to ski that wouldn't have been able to afford it. And it's still a program that's lasted over all these years teaching over a hundred thousand kids to ski, including local athletes like David Wise."

She was a co-founder of Sky Tavern Jr. Ski Program, the oldest and largest non-profit ski/snowboarding program in the United States, and possibly the world. The program has instructed more than 100,000 children since its formation in 1948.

Herz graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno and worked as a journalist for the Reno Evening Gazette. She also taught for a decade, and encouraged all children to participate in sports. She died of leukemia in 1964 at the age of 52.

She had a natural love for children and for education," granddaughter Alicia Herz says. "And her starting Sky Tavern was a phenomenal feat at that time because it was getting kids outdoors and it was getting kids to ski that wouldn't have been able to afford it. And it's still a program that's lasted over all these years teaching over a hundred thousand kids to ski, including local athletes like David Wise."

While Sky Tavern exemplifies Marce's legacy, Alicia says the school is a wonderful token, too.

"For her to be able to have a school named after her is a tremendous honor for the family and we are so grateful," Alicia says. "I hope her values and her ideals will transfer onto all the kids and students that are there."

Funding for new schools was made possible by voter support for school capital funding in 2016, which provides an ongoing funding source for repairs, renovations, and construction of new schools in Washoe County.

(The Washoe County School District contributed to this report.)