By Kate Snyder
A new elementary school could soon be coming to Redmond. The Lake Washington School District has proposed a plan to replace its existing Norman Rockwell Elementary School with a new structure that would include a greater capacity to accommodate more students. According to the district’s proposal, funds from the 2022 Building Excellence Construction Levy that was previously approved by voters would go toward the project.
Other members of the development team include McGranahan Architects as the designer and Lydig as the contractor.
The project site is at the current Rockwell Elementary location, 11125 162nd Ave NE, as well as underdeveloped land surrounding the school. The new school structure would permanently replace the existing schoolhouse on site, city records show. The existing school will remain occupied throughout construction, though existing portable classrooms on site would be removed prior to construction. The new school would be constructed on the western side of the site and is scheduled to be operational for fall 2026.
Construction of a new school would create permanent space for 252 additional students, plans show. The new structure would span approximately 79,450 square feet and be capable of serving 690 students. The development team is also seeking a conditional use permit that would further allow future growth of four new portable classroom structures, contributing to an overall future total of 782 student capacity. Current capacity at the existing Rockwell Elementary campus is 438 students. Site improvements will include bus and parent loading, staff and visitor parking, service and utility yards, a geothermal loop for the new school and playground facilities such as covered play, sand field and play equipment.
The project would also allow the district to address an aging facility immediately and at a lower cost rather than waiting for a future measure to meet this need, according to the proposal. The district’s Facility Advisory Committee recommended that LWSD continue to address aging facilities and increase capacity by remodeling or rebuilding and enlarging aging schools. While the current project addresses only one of LWSD’s five aging schools, the other four – Alcott Elementary, Evergreen Middle School, Kamiakin Middle School and Smith Elementary – remain on the district’s list of aging schools that need to be addressed. LWSD is reviewing their Building Excellence Construction plan to determine when those schools can be addressed via a future ballot measure.
Last year, the LWSD Board of Directors approved the repurposing of levy funds to remodel or rebuild and enlarge Rockwell Elementary. The 2022 Building Excellence Construction levy funds slated for the project were originally planned to be used to build a new elementary school for 550 students on the Redmond Elementary campus.
“We value our partnership with our community,” Jon Holmen, Superintendent, said at the time of the board’s approval. “To that end, our commitment to fiscal responsibility includes using our public resources in the most efficient and effective ways to accomplish our goals of excellence in education for each student.”
