How Early Partnership Delivered New Mexico’s Largest Preschool Facility
By Jeremiah Hayes, Vice President, Four Corners Division
Farmington Municipal Schools set out to create more than a new building. The district needed a purpose-built early childhood learning environment where more than 500 children could begin developing skills that will support them throughout their lives.
The result is the 51,900-square-foot Farmington Preschool Academy, New Mexico’s largest preschool facility. With 23 classrooms, the academy expands access to early childhood education in the Four Corners region while providing a welcoming, flexible, and durable resource for students, educators, and families.
Delivering that vision required Farmington Municipal Schools, FBT Architects, and Jaynes to operate as one team from the earliest stages of planning. Through a shared focus on educational outcomes, early coordination, and proactive communication, the team completed the project three months ahead of schedule and under budget, returning significant contingency to the State of New Mexico.
A cafeteria at Farmington Preschool Academy.
Keeping Students at the Center
From the beginning, the team returned to one guiding question: What outcome will best serve Farmington Municipal Schools and the students who will attend this academy?
That question kept educational priorities at the center of decisions involving design, construction, schedule, and cost. Instead of evaluating issues solely through the lens of separate contracts or individual responsibilities, the team considered how each decision would affect the people who would ultimately use the facility.
“This project has always been about creating the best possible learning environment for our youngest students,” said Candice Thompson, Facilities Project Coordinator for Farmington Municipal Schools. “That required open communication, shared problem-solving, and a consistent focus on what matters most, our students.”
FBT Architects translated the district’s vision into spaces designed to welcome families, support flexible teaching, withstand long-term use, and engage young learners. Jaynes supported the design process with estimating, scheduling, constructability reviews, material evaluations, and site-logistics planning while decisions could still create the greatest value.
“Successful educational projects are rooted in continuous collaboration,” said Michele Carter, Principal and Director of Marketing and Business Development at FBT Architects. “When owners, architects, and builders communicate openly from the outset, the result is a stronger, more responsive design.”
The process was not about one partner handing work to the next. Each team member brought specialized expertise while remaining accountable to the same educational mission.
Protecting an Active Campus and Its Neighbors
The Preschool Academy at dusk.
Building the Preschool Academy on an active elementary school campus introduced challenges that construction planning alone could not solve. The project footprint reduced outdoor space available to existing students, making close coordination with district and campus leadership essential.
The team planned construction activities around school operations and worked to preserve the student experience throughout the build. Jaynes also helped make construction activity an educational opportunity, hosting learning events that introduced elementary students to the people, equipment, and processes involved in building their new academy.
The surrounding residential neighborhood required the same thoughtful approach. Construction traffic, noise, deliveries, and changing site conditions could directly affect nearby residents.
Rather than waiting for concerns to surface, the team held a Saturday neighborhood meeting where residents could review the construction schedule, ask questions, and establish a direct line of communication throughout the project. That early outreach helped address concerns proactively and maintain productive community relationships throughout construction.
For public projects, success is not limited to opening the building on time. It also means respecting the community, maintaining the trust of neighbors, and serving as a responsible steward of public resources.
What Early Collaboration Changed
One of the 23 classrooms in the school.
Farmington Municipal Schools selected the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery method, bringing Jaynes into the project while the design was still developing.
That early involvement enabled the owner, architect, builder, and trade partners to evaluate budget, constructability, schedule, materials, site logistics, and project risks before those issues reached the field.
For Jaynes, construction did not begin when crews mobilized. It began during preconstruction, with the responsibility to identify uncertainty early, communicate it clearly, and help the project team choose the best path forward.
Our role was not simply to execute a completed set of drawings. It was to apply constructability insights shaped by decades of educational construction experience and continuously ask how we could protect the district’s priorities.
The result was a more predictable project. The Farmington Preschool Academy was completed three months ahead of schedule and under budget. Those outcomes came from hundreds of coordinated decisions, not from a single decision or a single organization.
The best projects are built through trust, great communication, and hashing out conflict over the occasional burrito. It’s a simple idea, but an important one. When people believe in the purpose behind their work and trust one another enough to have candid conversations, challenges become shared problems rather than opportunities to assign blame.
That culture cannot be created through contract language alone. It is built through consistent communication, accountability, and a willingness to listen.
More Than a Building
A common area infused with New Mexico sunshine.
The children who enter the Farmington Preschool Academy will never see the coordination meetings, design iterations, neighborhood conversations, or problem-solving sessions that shaped their classrooms.
They will experience a facility designed for their learning and development. Teachers will have spaces that support early education, and families will have access to a resource built to serve the Four Corners community for generations.
That is the lasting value of this early partnership.
Great buildings are designed by architects and constructed by builders.
Great public projects are delivered when people share a purpose, accept responsibility, and remain focused on the communities they serve.
The Farmington Preschool Academy demonstrates what that approach can accomplish.
Start the Conversation
Planning an early-learning, K-12, or occupied-campus project in the Four Corners region or beyond? Connect with Jaynes Four Corners to discuss how early collaboration can reduce risk and create stronger outcomes before construction begins.
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