EDMONDS, Washington (STPNS) -- As you read this, the Lynnwood High School staff are packing their boxes and relocating from the old building near Alderwood Mall to the new one at 18218 North Road.

Construction of the school is expected to be complete by the middle of August in time for the start of school on Sept. 8.  

The 214,000 square foot building is designed to accommodate 1,600 students and about 100 staff.  

“We don’t have anyone that isn’t excited, from kids to staff to community,” said district spokesperson DJ Jakala.  “We’re all excited about the prospect of the school opening and all it will offer, from the community use to just your everyday classroom learning environment.”



The 40-acre property off of North Road was purchased by the Edmonds School District in the late 1960s with the intentions of someday building a high school on the site, Jakala said.  Twenty years ago, the district started phasing out its older high schools, beginning with the rebuilding of Mountlake Terrace High School and followed by the construction of new Meadowdale and Edmonds-Woodway high schools 10 years ago.  

The old LHS was built with the expectation of only lasting 25 years because of the influx of new students in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jakala said.  Eight years ago, the district began its plans to build of a new LHS to better meet the learning needs of the students.

“Right now at approaching 40 years, the current Lynnwood High site has well outlived its life expectancy,” Jakala said. “In comparison to the other high schools in the district, Lynnwood High has not been offering the same academic capabilities way down to the wiring needs to sustain the electronic communications we all depend on.”

A majority of the $99.8 million project was funded by the voter-approved 2006 Capital Construction Bond.  Other funding for the project included grants from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Snohomish County PUD for the project’s focus on sustainability.  

The school, which was designed by Bassetti Architects and constructed by Cornerstone General Contractors Inc., fulfills its promise to the OSPI and the PUD to build a ‘green’ school, Jakala said.

“The remodeling pushes the barrier for resource conservation and energy efficiency,” said project manager Debra Born.  “Not only does it look good, but it should be highly energy efficient.”

The building is designed to use natural lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling.  Other energy-efficient features include increased use of insulation, reflective roofing to minimize heat gain, the installation of energy-saving boilers, the use of sun shades on the windows, and an automated daylight control system that monitors the amount of daylight and adjusts the lighting accordingly.

“Overheating tends to be the single greatest source of energy consumption because school buildings tend to get too hot with all of the bodies, so we’re always trying to keep classrooms cooler,” Born said.  “Shading the windows and installing the reflective roofing to limit how much sun is absorbed into the building goes a long way.”

The new building introduces the concept of ‘learning neighborhoods’ for flexible instruction and increased group interaction, Born said.  The school has four neighborhoods or wings:  two classroom wings, a theater/arts wing, and a library/gymnasium wing.  Both classroom wings have lots of open space where students can gather outside their classrooms and do group projects or convene in between classes.

At the center of everything is a large, two-story gathering space dubbed the Agora, borrowed from the Greek word meaning ‘market place’ or ‘meeting place.’

The school has a football field, running track, baseball field and two mixed-use fields intended for soccer, softball and practice football.  The fields – as well as the library – will be available to community use.

The district signed a 99-year contract to lease the 40-acre property of the old Lynnwood High School on 3001 184th St. SW in Lynnwood for retail, residential or hotel development, Jakala said.  The contract will generate revenue to put back into projects around the district.

“The beauty of that is that current [district] staff know they’ve put into place a plan that will help ease the amount of money we have to ask from our taxpayers over the course of decades,” she said.

A dedication ceremony for the school is planned for Saturday, Oct. 3.  Call DJ Jakala at 425-431-7044 with any questions about the ceremony.