Schools Gear Up for New Year, More Students

By Lucy Bodilly

More than $354 million in capital construction money is being released to school districts throughout the state of Washington. Added to nearly $690 million in capital bonds approved by voters in communities, the release will bring more than $1 billion into the state’s economy.

A total of 37 districts, in partnership with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, are ready to begin or continue work on 58 new school buildings and school building modernization projects.

The 37 school districts funded this year are Battle Ground, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bethel, Camas, Cape Flattery, Clover Park, Deer Park, East Valley (Yakima), Eatonville, Everett, Kent, Lake Stevens, Lake Washington, Marysville, McCleary, Montesano, Moses Lake, Mossyrock, Nine Mile Falls, North Thurston, Northshore, Oak Harbor, Othello, Prescott, Puyallup, Rainier, Riverview, Seattle, Snohomish, South Bend, Tacoma, Union Gap, University Place, Walla Walla, West Valley (Yakima) and Yelm.

Approval was determined by a number of factors. The district must have passed a local bond; the state funds are matching grants. And the district must apply to OSPI for the project. Details of the application process can be found in the School Facilities Manual.

The state’s school construction program also includes a set-aside to provide public
art for new facilities. This year, the state will provide approximately $1.1 million in public art grants for these school construction projects.

Chiwana High School

When the 338,000 so Chiawana High School opens for the 2009-2010 school year, it will house up to 2,200 students and will help relieve overcrowding at Pasco High School, which has one of the largest student populations in the state. Chiawana is a Native American word meaning "father of water" or "big river."

Portions of the school building will have two floors. The gymnasium will hold four basketball courts, and the outside athletic area will include a track with a rubberized running surface and a football field with artificial turf.

The new $66.5 million school will include computer labs, four gym floors, an auditorium, performing arts facilities, a student mall area and a career and technical education wing.

The 80-acre site will include two baseball fields, eight tennis courts, and soccer fields.  Though the building holds 2,200 students, the design follows the small classroom principle, grouping students together by interest.

“The school does have some unique features,” says John Morgan, the principal in charge of construction with the Pasco School District.

The HVAC system is designed to save the district money, and not to run over 40 percent of its capacity. All the service areas for access to infrastructure repairs allow the maintenance personnel to fix equipment without entering individual classrooms. “There is a penthouse area,” says Morgan. “We saw the same thing in a few of the school we toured.” The building is wireless not only for computers, but for the 212- camera security system.

To make the day to day routine easier on teachers, the building contains acoustical support. Other high tech advances include a system that allows streaming media to all rooms.

The building was funded through a 2006 bond issue that also paid for renovations to Pasco High School and built a new stadium the two schools can share.

St Thomas School

Located in Medina, Wash, St. Thomas School will provide pre-school through 6th grade education for about 250 students.

Cost of the project is $30 million, with $10 million going to a tenant improvement project at a nearby industrial office park where the students attended school while the project was under way.

The project is targeting LEED Gold, says Bob Wicklien, project manager with the Seneca Group, which provided construction management services. Bassetti Architects and Sellen Construction, both of Seattle rounded out the project team. Sustainable features included permeable concrete for the play area and fire lanes, alternative transportation and site selection.

Natural ventilation includes a damper system that is housed with the skylights. As the heat rises in the building it escapes through the skylights, if the damper is open.

The building also includes some perks not usually found in the normal elementary school. A multi media center, with publishing capabilities, music rooms and language labs are all included in the exclusive school.

“We were able to use some higher end materials as well, says Wicklien. “Brick that matches the church exterior, hardiplank siding and ceramic tile on the exterior improve the appearance.

 Twin Falls Elementary School

 Twin Falls Elementary School in North Bend is like a bridge in more ways one. The curriculum bridges the gap elementary students and high schoolers.

To build it, general contractor C E and C, of Tacoma, had to think like a bridge builder.

Twin Falls was designed to look like a wheel with a central steel frame core and four hallways spreading out from it. Normally the contractor would have started with the steel frame commons area in the center of the building, and build the hallways going outward.

Unfortunately, the steel package was bid out two years earlier, by Hill International, the construction manager for the North Bend School District. Between the time the steel package bid and the time the contractor needed it, the fabricator went belly up. “We had to rebid it, and we took the hit for the extra cost,” says Darrell. C E and C operations project manager.

 “It was very hard. We had to be right on track, so it would all tie in together in the center, Darrell said. Placing beams as heavy as 120 tons made precision all the more important.

The project was aided by Hill International’s suggestion to do all the site work under separate contracts. “All the septic, landscaping and asphalt was done before we started,” says Barnes.

Lone Pine School

Built on the site of an 1887 school, the 1920s Lone Pine Elementary School in east Medford is about to undergo a phased renovation and construction project  that will result in an eco-friendly, mostly new school.

Demolition of four of the seven buildings on the 9.3-acre campus began in June, with phase two set to begin in the fall. The three remaining buildings will be remodeled and two new ones will be built—a two-story 22,500 sq ft classroom building and a 15,500 sq ft single story gymnasium and cafeteria.

The school has been remodeled and expanded several times over the past 80 years, most recently in the 1980s with a hexagonal-shaped library that will be remodeled, along with two classroom buildings.

 The $11.7 million project will give the school a new “front door” to the campus, a series of green outdoor learning spaces, and 3,700 sq ft more than it had previously for a total of 64,000 sq ft.

The design for the complex was challenging because some existing buildings will be retained, the sloping site has a 30-foot grade and there are existing soccer and baseball fields to the south. “Our goal was to use the steep terrain to knit together the old and new parts of the campus into a coherent whole,” said Anjali Grant, project manager with Mahlum Architects.

 “We envision a quieter, greener upper campus, taking advantage of the topography and trees to create a series of landscaped outdoor learning spaces,” Grant said.

The gym/cafeteria will open onto a central courtyard and amphitheater, the playing fields and the Siskiyou Mountains to the south. An acoustical wall between the gymnasium and cafeteria will be moveable to allow for large school and community gatherings. When fully opened the space will accommodate 800 people.

The school will incorporate a number of “green” elements, including operable windows, ventilation systems that maximize the use of outside air, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, daylighting to maximize natural light, and channeling of rain water from the new classroom roof into infiltration planters.

All of the new classrooms face north for optimal daylighting. A covered ‘porch’ along the south side of the building provides shading from south-facing sun and a place for students to gather.

Project team members, besides Mahlum, includes Coughlin Porter Lundeen, structural engineer; Interface Engineering, mechanical and electrical; Dew Engineering, civil; Galbraith Associates, landscaping, and Listen Acoustics, acoustical. Adroit Construction is the builder and Architectural Design Works the local architect.