Property for New Elementary School
Issaquah School District Acquires Property for New Elementary School
The Issaquah School District is pleased to announce that it has acquired approximately 13 acres located at 4305-4353 Issaquah Pine Lake Road SE in the City of Sammamish. This land, known as the “Volpe Property,” is heavily impacted by wetlands and critical areas and therefore not fully developable. However, the District has determined that the useable area is sufficient for a compact footprint elementary school similar to Clark Elementary.
Site planning and building design are underway with the intention of beginning construction in 2019. The new elementary school is scheduled to open in September 2020. Residents may notice activity sooner on the property as the geotechnical soils analysis work is conducted in the coming weeks.
A new elementary school in this location will provide relief to schools in the surrounding area and address the need for elementary capacity across the District’s service area. More than 1,000 K-5 students live within a one mile radius of the property with more than 300 new single family housing units being developed in close proximity. The District currently operates 220 portable classrooms to accommodate student learning with more than 84 portable classrooms in its schools located within the City of Sammamish.
Voters in the Issaquah School District approved a $533M school bond in April 2016 to purchase land and build two new elementary schools, a new middle school, and a new comprehensive high school as well as expand and remodel four additional schools. Since the bond was approved, property acquisition has been a difficult challenge for the District. New regulatory constraints and continued development have greatly reduced available properties suitable for school construction. However, the District has been in high gear with the remodeling and expansion projects, including a major rebuild of Pine Lake Middle School, which is set to open this fall. Additions to Sunset and Cougar Ridge Elementary schools will also be complete this fall.
More information about the District’s current land acquisition and construction plans, please visit the Construction Projects page of our website or contact/call Chief of Finance and Operations, Jake Kuper at 425.837.7024 or kuperj@issaquah.wednet.edu.