A new Lake Washington High School almost is done.
Construction equipment still is working outside, demolishing the old school, but when the new school opens Sept. 6 for about 1,000 students, they’ll find themselves in one of the most modern educational structures in the state.
“We want to see learning happen,” said Forrest Miller, director of support services, as the new building was shown at a preview today.
The particular feature Miller was showing was a viewing window looking into a spiffy music classroom, but other unparalleled features abound throughout the building – which really is a complex of five structures built around things like a central cafeteria and sunken gardens at 12033 N.E. 80th St.
That’s not to say the old Kang spirit has been put aside. Trophy cases prominently display reminders of past glories, a lifesize kangaroo – the school mascot – stands inside the entryway, and a wall in the cafeteria is made of flooring from the old basketball court.
It’s the array of 21st, or maybe 22nd, Century stuff that sets the tone for the school, however, constructed for about $85 million since 2009. The school was financed as part of a $436 million 2006 bond measure.
An “energy kiosk” in the cafeteria shows things like how much power the school is using. A grid of rooftop solar panels provides enough electricity to power six classrooms. There’s a geothermal heating-and-ventilating system and burnished-concrete floors that never need polishing. And in the classes beginning in 2012, every student will get a netbook computer, said Christina Thomas, principal.
“Next year, in 2012, everyone gets a netbook,” said Thomas. “We’re moving to one-on-one computing.” That means buying about 1,400 of these small computers.
Even downspouts from the roof are essentially works of art, with water flowing into open channels before being sent into a rain garden.
A 420-seat Performing Arts Center is part of the new school, although the name of the former Cadle Theater will be dropped.
The school’s expected to open with about 1,076 students, said Thomas. In the fall of 2012, there’ll be about 1,400, as ninth-grade students transfer from junior high schools that are being converted to middle schools, she added.
All of it represents a move toward what’s probably one of the most advanced learning experiences available in the state, said Thomas, showing the school library with a suspension-bridge walkway arching over the books and computers there, with the books bringing something of a rueful smirk.
“And, of course, there are books,” she said. “We don’t know how long books will be a part of libraries.”
