Colorado District Breaks Ground on New PreK–12 School

The Walsh School District in Walsh, Colo., held a groundbreaking ceremony last week to celebrate the beginning of construction on a new PreK–12 school, according to a news release. The 60,000-square-foot facility was designed by Wold Architects and Engineers and is scheduled for completion in spring 2024.

The space will include amenities like upgraded classrooms and learning environments, vocational and agricultural spaces, a library, a competition gym, an auxiliary gym, and a stage, the news release reports. The space was designed with heavy input from district staff and the community at large, and once complete, it will replace many of the district’s aging facilities.

Walsh PK12 School Rendering
Rendering Courtesy of Wold Architects and Engineers

“We have an extremely tight-knit community, and I am ecstatic to see this project come to life and serve our staff and students for years to come,” said Walsh Public Schools Superintendent Corey Weiss. “This has been a longtime vision of ours, and we can’t wait to have a facility that sets our students up to truly soar.”

The project’s funding comes partially from a Colorado Department of Education BEST grant of almost $34 million. The district is also partnering with Diversified Consulting Solutions (DCS) Owners Representatives and GH Phipps Construction, the news release reports.

“As a local firm, we are honored to work with the Walsh School District to create a flexible, innovative space that will support the community and allow students to grow on a singular campus,” said Josh Grenier, Wold Architects and Engineers Principal. “This building will support a diverse student population, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the district to help bring their ideas to life.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • 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.