A New Home for Westside
Westside has reached an agreement with the Seattle Public Schools and to lease the Seattle School District, E.C. Hughes School, on 7740 34th Avenue SW and SW Holden. When EC Hughes became available a short time ago, the Board of Trustees saw this as a great opportunity to get the needed space for classrooms and enrichment along with a large gymnasium, two covered outdoor play areas, a multi-purpose room with a stage, and abundant parking – all in one building. Our teachers are so excited to be back together, to have large classrooms in every grade, and to have this great new space.
We will start the 2010-2011 school year at this new site, but there’s a lot of work to be done before September. We will keep you informed of our plans as we learn more. Thank you for your continued support of your child’s experience at Westside School.
Click here to read about the rationale to lease E.C. Hughes.
Click here to read "how we got here" - the timeline of events and decisions.
Click here to look at a summary of the powerpoint from the Thursday, April 8 meeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
While there is a lot of excitement for this move, there are also a lot of questions. Here, we have attempted to answer some of them.
When will it happen?
What should I tell my kids?
Is there an impact on tuition?
Will the programs change?
Are we concerned about asbestos, lead paint and earthquake safety?
What are the renovation plans? How much work is involved?
Why are we moving the portables?
What is the water quality?
What's happening with the current lease and Explorer West?
How will we involve volunteers?
Will all of Westside School move to the new location, leaving behind no operations in the existing buildings?
The plan is to move everyone to one campus in September.
My kids are nervous about going to a new school. What should I tell them?
The school is going to a new building, but the furniture, bulletin boards and teachers are also going. Don’t think of it as a new school…we will all be together again!
What will be the impact on tuition?
The Board of Trustees remains committed to keeping tuition affordable and plans on no major tuition increases other than the standard increases projected in our long-term budget.
Will any programs change?
Westside School is committed to its curriculum and programs. With the additional space, PE classes can run throughout the day, kids can eat lunch in a lunchroom, and there will be an auditorium and outdoor play areas, but the general philosophy of the school and its curriculum will remain the same.
Since it’s an old building, are there concerns about asbestos, lead paint and earthquake safety?
Seattle Public Schools will not let us use the building without making sure life-safety concerns are addressed. The building was in use by children just two years ago. Earthquake retrofitting was done. The lead paint and asbestos inspections have also been completed. There are no evident health hazards.
I’m concerned that the building has not been used by the Seattle School District, and that no repairs or work has been done to the building since 1983.
The building has been taken out of the Seattle School District inventory because it is too small to adequately serve a Seattle Public School elementary program. In their long-range facilities plans, the School District defined an adequate elementary site as 4 acres and 2-3 classrooms per grade.
Westside was concerned that the building might need additional structural work, but have been assured by the School District that the building has been maintained to the same standard as all other Seattle Public School buildings of its style and era. A discretionary seismic upgrade was conducted in 1999 using money from a school bond measure.
What kind of work needs to be done and how much do you think it will cost?
We have contractors and a site work project manager working to develop a detailed scope of work and a budget. The plan is to get the complete list of required repairs and figure out the top priorities to adequately get us in by September. Our initial estimate includes paint, some paving, replacing some windows, and fixing some chain link fencing. The building is charming, huge and not in major disrepair. The city has guaranteed the operating systems are and will be in good working order, and with a good cleaning, paint, carpet, artwork, furniture and kids, it will be a great home for Westside!
What are the renovation plans for the building? As I understand it, EC Hughes needs a bit of work. What is the extent of the planned renovation? Will work be completed before moving in or will there be ongoing projects?
We are not renovating the building. We are looking at the scope of work to clean it up and make it our new home. An architect and a project manager are looking at our options, and as soon as we know more information, we will let you know. We expect to get the work done over the summer. However, just like in our present building, there will be wish-lists projects for the future.
Would we do major renovation on the site?
We do not plan to do any major renovation on the site until we secure a longer-term lease or purchase the site. The building is designated ‘inventory’ by the SSD which means the longest lease term available is 10 years. We believe the building will either be moved to ‘surplus’ which will allow 25-50 year lease terms or that it will be sold.
What’s the target budget?
Right now, the estimated budget is $250,000.
The outside grounds area has a look of urban decay. Are you going to address the cracked blacktop and concrete so the playground is nicer?
We plan to fix the broken blacktop and ensure that it's safe sometime this summer.
Will any of the concrete on the playground at EC Hughes be converted to grass?
We would like to remove some of the asphalt for a grass playground and will do it as quickly as possible, but are still determining the time table.
Why are we moving the portables?
When we originally planned the move, we anticipated moving and installing the portables to the E.C Hughes site because they are licensed by the Department of Early Learning (DEL) and meet the needs of our early childhood program. However, upon applying for the permit, we discovered that the process might take longer than anticipated. After re-examining the DEL requirements and the Hughes space, we realized that we have the classroom space needed and can meet the licensing standards in the main building.
We are still going through the permitting process to eventually move the portables as this will provide flexibility for our current and future program facilities needs.
What is the quality of the water supply at the new building? We all know there have been a lot of issues with water quality at Seattle Public schools. Has the water been tested for lead and arsenic? How recently?
The water has been tested and it is safe, but we will continue to have bottled water in the classrooms.
In the letter from the Board of Trustees, it was mentioned that an agreement needed to be reached with Explorer West. What’s the status?
It’s our intent to maintain our lease here at 10015 28th Ave SW for future options, but we are still meeting with Explorer West to plan how both schools will use this campus.
What’s the status of sub-lease the current space?
The Board has approached Explorer West to sub-lease the space and negotiating with them.
How will we involve volunteers?
Volunteers will be needed to pack and unpack the classrooms and to be involved in various painting and gardening projects. We will be in touch about these opportunities as they come up. Classroom packing will take place the week of June 14th.