New Missouri Elementary Features Collaborative Spaces for Each Grade Level

Renderings and floor plans of a new elementary school were shared in the last Washington School District board meeting. The new, two-story elementary school will replace South Point Elementary and is funded by Prop S, a $26 million bond issue approved in April.

Bond Architects and Washington Engineering gave a presentation to board members on the project. The 78,000-square-foot building will be “angular with both rustic and industrial flair inside and out featuring a dynamic color scheme,” Superintendent Dr. Lori VanLeer, told a local newspaper. The school will feature collaborative spaces for each grade level with books available to check out in each space in addition to a library/makerspace with space for full class instruction and room to build projects.

Classrooms for kindergarten through second grade will be on the first floor with third through sixth grade on the second level. The gym, located on the main floor in the center of the building, will also be a storm shelter with adjacent bathrooms and a backup generator.

Construction bids will go out in early January and a contract will be awarded in late January or early February with construction beginning in the spring of 2020.

The new school is estimated to cost $23 to $24 million and slated to open in August 2021.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Porter Family Center

    Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • University of Pittsburgh to Build New Residence Hall

    The Board of Trustees from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Penn., recently approved the construction of a new residence hall for first-year students, according to university news.