Groundbreaking set at site of new Mead Middle School

The Mead School District will hold a groundbreaking ceremony today for the new Mead Middle School, about a half-mile east of U.S. Highway 2 on Day-Mt. Spokane Road.

The groundbreaking will take place at 1 p.m.

The new middle school will replace the current middle school, on Market Street in Mead.

“We are pleased to announce this groundbreaking event in the construction of the new middle school, thanks to voters who passed the capital projects bond in 2004,” said Mead School Board President Denny Denholm in a press release.

In addition to the voter-approved bond, the district also will receive about $12.5 million in state funds for the middle school project, which will total about $33.1 million. Northwest Architectural Co. designed the new school, and Lydig Construction of Spokane was awarded the bid for construction.

Principal of the Year named

Lidgerwood Elementary School Principal Valorie Chadwick was named Tuesday as the Dick Stannard Distinguished Elementary Principal of the Year by Spokane Public Schools.

The award is named after a much-loved Spokane principal who died in 1996.

Every year the Spokane Elementary Principals Association nominates an elementary principal, based on leadership, resource development and interpersonal skills.

In her nomination letter, Garfield Elementary School Principal Joann Ekstrom said Chadwick is “very good at getting to the heart of the issue” and helping teachers become better practitioners.

Chadwick was a third- and fourth-grade grade teacher at Audubon Elementary and a third-grade teacher at Regal before serving as principal at Wilson, Adams, Hutton and now Lidgerwood, district officials said.

Last year Chadwick worked primarily out of her car, keeping tabs on students who spent the year at three different Spokane elementary schools while their own was under construction.

Lidgerwood is one of three new elementary schools completed this year with funds from a voter-approved capital improvements bond.

Another principal, Mary-Dean Wooley of Jefferson, noted that at each school where Chadwick has served, “she was able to establish a sense of community and to inspire staff leadership.”