Published 12/20/07

A&T High School welcomes students

by Beckye Randall

After years of holding classes in a cramped leased space, students of Marysville’s Arts & Technology High School finally have a permanent home.

The new high school opened to students on a snowy Monday, December 10. Occupancy of the school took a little longer than district officials had hoped, but the innovative construction process delivered a spacious, flexible building at no cost to taxpayers.

Using modular construction techniques, the school was built off-site at Whitley Evergreen in Smokey Point. The large sections were then transported by truck to the campus site for assembly and finish work.

“There are 144 boxes that make up the school building,” said John Bingham, the district’s capital projects manager, “and they all fit together to create this great space.”

Tulalip Heritage High School is also moving into a new building currently under construction at the Secondary Options campus fronting 27th Ave. NE in Tulalip, with completion planned for January. Tenth Street Middle School will be the third school at the site, with an estimated occupancy date of March 2008. The three distinct schools will share a common gym, cafeteria and administration complex, which should be ready in February.

The schools are all modular structures while the support complex is being built using traditional construction methods.

The 300-plus A&T students will be better supported with updated labs and equipment at the new school, although furnishings from their previous location are being utilized wherever possible. The 39,000-square-foot facility is designed to accommodate approximately 400 students.

A&T principal Frank Redmond reported that the opening day went pretty smoothly, with the most common question heard “When is lunch?”

“We’ll have several lunch periods,” he explained, “because we’re using the common area as a cafeteria for now.”

An apparent faulty sensor in the school’s sprinkler system provided a little more excitement as the fire alarm sounded and the school was evacuated. Students and teachers calmly exited the building as if they had practiced the drill hundreds of times. When it was determined that no emergency existed, the teens quickly headed back inside, out of the snowy cold and into the warm and inviting interior.

An abundance of windows, both interior and exterior, contribute to the building’s open design. Classroom activity is visible from the hallway and natural light pours in through clerestory windows and even roll-up glass doors.

At the leased space, students’ only options for physical activity were walking and calisthenics. Although the gym is still under construction at the new site, a well-equipped fitness room will give students a good workout.

They’ll also get a pretty good workout from carrying their backpacks with them all day. The halls of the A&T school are not cluttered with banks of lockers, so students keep their belongings with them throughout the day.

Bingham was pleased with the reactions of students and staff on their first day. “It’s rewarding to see the expressions on the kids’ faces,” he said. “They are so excited about their new campus.”

With the school successfully opened, he added, “And it definitely feels better this week than it did last week.”