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On Friday, Feb. 22, the Austin school district broke ground on a pioneering project: to renovate Ann Richards School into a modern and technologically sophisticated new facility specifically designed for young women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Voters approved the bond for the $70 million Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in 2017. Now the district has set out to create a state-of-the-art campus at the South Austin site. The new facility, projected to open in August 2021, will serve more than 1,000 students with a curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. The existing school facility will remain on-site during construction.