Boulder Valley School District students earn school credit while building affordable housing

BOULDER, Colo. — Students within the Boulder Valley School District are helping combat the affordable housing crisis while also earning school credit.

Denver7 first told you about the Boulder MOD project in 2022, when the City of Boulder and Boulder Valley School District were working together on building a factory. Today, the now-up-and-running factory is far from what you’d find at a typical high school wood shop class.

“I think it’s absolutely amazing that we’ve come together and built this,” said Elan Castillo-Veltman, a senior at Centaurus High School and a second-year student at the Boulder MOD.

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Inside the factory, students are building modular homes. The prefabricated buildings are constructed inside the factory and then delivered to their location, according to the City of Boulder.

The program is a partnership between the city, Boulder Valley School District and Habitat for Humanity Flatirons.

“When we look at a home that is going to appraise at $750,000 or $850,000, and we sell that home to a family at $250,000 or $350,000, that gap has to be made up,” explained Dan McColley, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity Flatirons.

That gap can be filled in various ways, including donations and volunteer labor, which is received through the Boulder MOD.

“While we’re doing that, we’re training the next generation of construction professionals,” said McColley.

The students receive school credit and hands-on experience.

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The benefits for some extend far beyond the classroom. Castillo-Veltman was able to connect with his future employer, a solar energy company, through his involvement in the program.

“Now I can literally leave the school and go right into a job,” he said.

The modular homes will eventually be moved to the Poderosa Mobile Home Park in North Boulder, and the residents there will soon be homeowners.

“They’ll move out of that mobile home, they’ll move into one of these homes, have a much better life,” McColley said. “Live in a home without water infiltration, without rust, without mold.”