Name, Site Picked For New Wv Middle School

West Valley School District has decided on both a name and a building for its new middle school.

The City School, which is expected to enroll 100 or more fifth- through eighth-graders this fall, will be located just west of the Marie Callendar’s restaurant on Argonne.

The brick building, which formerly housed Farm Credit Services, is at 2011 N. Hutchison. It has 14,000 square feet of space and sits on about 2 acres.

No school board action has confirmed the move yet, but the district expects to lease and then buy the building. Superintendent Dave Smith said negotiations are ongoing; he declined to reveal any price. The building is owned by the Pring Corp.

“We’ve found a home,” Smith said.

“I am so pumped!” said Larry Bush, principal of the City School. “I woke up at 5 this morning and I felt exhausted, but I was so excited, I jumped in the shower and headed down here.”

The building is a combination of offices and passageways that lead into open spaces that will convert relatively easily into the school of Bush’s dreams.

He pointed out office spaces that will be available for homeschool parents and children to work in, and likely spots where the removal of a few walls would create classrooms.

Bush also sees a place in the building for what he calls the city: a complex of a bank, store and other business sites, through which some of the school’s hands-on learning will occur.

Families of about 60 students have indicated interest in the school, Bush said. About half of those are in West Valley schools, half from other districts.

“Plenty of people waited to see where we would land. Others are waiting to see how this goes in its first year,” Smith said.

At this point, officials expect five teachers in the City School in its first year. Suzanne Scott, elementary counselor, and Kerri Barsness, a teacher from Contract Based Education, have asked to join the staff. Only teachers who volunteer for the City School will be on staff.

Each time the term “alternative school” comes up, Bush explains that the program will hold high academic standards, and that he expects the real-world setting of the City School to lead to energized students.

“We’re going for those state assessments,” he says, referring to the rigorous state tests that are being phased in as part of Washington’s education reform. In initial testing, students across the state fared poorly. Educators in many districts are taking pains to retool, so as to ensure their students pass the new tests.

In a second program, the City School will offer classes, computers and other resources to homeschooling families and other students who may not attend a full day of classes.

The building on Hutchison has the room to hold 200-300 students, Bush estimated.

The district has received a $77,000 state grant to help start up the alternative program. Other state money, nearly $7 million, is available on a competitive basis to districts that form private-public partnerships to help house students. West Valley is applying for a share of that money, Smith said.

MEETING SET A meeting for parents and children interested in the City School will be held at 6 p.m. on July 7 at the new school site, 2011 N. Hutchison. The school will enroll fifth- through eighth-grade.